Openly Gay GOP Congressional Challenger Tisei Loses in Tight Mass. Race

Incumbent Tierney wins by 4,000 votes

Despite a deluge of outside spending and a withering challenge from a longtime state legislator, US Representative John F. Tierney held on Tuesday to win a ninth term by the narrowest margin since his first victory.

Tierney descended to the ballroom at Salem's Hawthorne Hotel about 12:30 Wednesday morning to declare victory, holding his wife's hand aloft and basking in the cheers of 100 remaining supporters. He made an elliptical reference to the family scandal that had dogged him throughout the campaign and provided ample fodder for challenger Richard R. Tisei.

"In the end this was not about our family, and it wasn't about his family," Tierney said. "It was about your families."