As 2009 wound down, a powerful movement was growing: the "Tea Party". This group of conservatives was strongly motivated by religion, the second amendment, and a feeling that the government was not representing them at all. Led by individuals such as Sarah Palin and Paul Ryan, the Tea Party became a grassroots movement, spreading across the country and inciting conservatives to flock to the polls.
One of the most shocking results of this movement was a special election in Massachusetts on January 19, 2010. The race gained notable attention for two reasons. First, the special election was being held to replace the seat held by Ted Kennedy since 1962. Massachusetts had seemed generally very happy with the performance of this liberal senator, so it was expected that someone just as liberal would replace him.
The second reason the race was closely watched was because of the current balance of power in the Senate. Following the Democratic sweep in 2008, Democrats controlled 60 seats in the Senate, while the Republicans controlled 40. With such a majority by the Democrats, it was impossible for Republicans to hold a filibuster, negotiating on and possibly blocking some bills. This allowed Democrats, who also held a majority in the House, to freely pass whatever bills they wanted to. For this reason, Republicans were very hopeful that there would be an upset in consistently Democratic Massachusetts that would change the seat count to D-59 and R-41. With one more seat to their name, the Republicans would legally be allowed to filibuster.
The Democratic candidate in the race was Martha Coakley, Massachusetts's popular attorney general who had easily won her primary a few months before the general election. She was highly expected to win the race without much difficulty.
The Republicans chose Scott Brown, a relatively unknown Massachusetts state senator. However, despite his lack of recognition, Brown had his own powerful weapons. First, he had the support of the Tea Party movement, which was developing great power in sending conservatives to the polls and creating revolutions. Second, he was able to play on the fears of moderates who seemed worried at the performance of the Obama administration. Shaky attempts to pass the tax bill and the health care bill using only the support of Democrats had been two lows in Obama's track record that concerned everyone from conservatives to moderates to even some liberals.
Despite a history of Democrats in the state, which would indicate a strong win by Coakley, Brown appeared to be doing amazingly well in the polls. What he would bring as a new outsider to Congress who would promise to oppose some of the actions unpopular to the general public had proved effective in winning over independents and even Democrats. Coakley grew increasingly concerned about her chances, and realizing this vote would determine whether Democrats could prevent filibusters or not, she decided she needed to call Obama up to Massachusetts the weekend before the election.
However, this last-minute attempt to send Democrats to the polls in droves did not succeed, to the dismay of Democrats trying to pass the healthcare bill. Brown won a stunning upset, 52% to 48%, and took hold of the 41st seat necessary for filibusters.
https://www.politico.com/story/2010/01/brown-pulls-off-historic-upset-031674
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/us/politics/20election.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_special_election_in_Massachusetts,_2010#General_election_campaign
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