Democrat Cruises to Victory in Mass. Congressional Special Election

Katherine Clark to take over Edward Markey's House seat

Democrat Katherine M. Clark cruised to victory Tuesday, capturing the congressional seat long held by Edward J. Markey, in a lightly contested special election that drew the lowest voter turnout of any recent US House race in Massachusetts.

Clark will become just the fifth woman to represent the state in the US House, where women hold 18 percent of the 435 seats.

Turnout was a dismal 13 percent, which appeared to set a record for voter apathy in the state's recent US House races. The previous low-water mark was the October 2001 special election that Stephen F. Lynch won with a 17 percent turnout.

Clark, a state senator from Melrose, won 40,172 votes, or 66 percent, easily defeating Frank J. Addivinola Jr., a Republican who had 19,319 votes, or 32 percent, for the seat from the Fifth Congressional District. Independents James Hall and James Aulenti each registered in low single digits.