Massachusetts Senate race: First reactions to Democrat Elizabeth Warren's victory

Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren speaks at the Democratic National Convention on Sept 5.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

In the extremely high-profile Massachusetts Senate contest, Democrat Elizabeth Warren has ousted moderate Republican Sen. Scott Brown. The most recent figures have Warren at 51.8 percent to Brown's 48.2 percent, leading CBS News and NBC News to call the race for Warren.

The epic battle between Brown, a truck-driving former model who — to the surprise of many in 2010 — seized the seat left open by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, and Warren, a Harvard Law professor who became a champion of the Democrats when she set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, was widely considered the "hottest in the country." That seems to have spurred the blue state's voters to turn out in droves. Republicans considered a victory in Massachusetts a critical part of their plan to seize control of the Senate.