Independent Candidates for Governor React to MA Special Election Results

In the northeast, a number of independent candidates for governor have emphasized the importance of the independent vote in the outcome of the special election for the US Senate in Massachusetts:

•Independent candidate for governor of Massachusetts, Tim Cahill:

State Treasurer Timothy Cahill, who is challenging [MA governor Deval] Patrick as an independent candidate, said Brown’s unlikely bid has boosted his own chances. “If anyone tells me over the next six months that I can’t win, I’ll look at them and say, ‘Did you say that about Scott Brown?’ ” Cahill said. “There is nothing good in this for the governor,” Cahill said. “He put his prestige on the line here (by backing Coakley.)”

• Independent candidate for governor of Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee:

Former Republican U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee, now running for Rhode Island governor as an independent, called the historic GOP victory in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race a message from independent voters who are worried about proposed overhauls to the nation’s health care system. “For me, the independents, the independents have spoken,“ Chafee told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday. “Used to be that solid Democrats would vote solidly Democratic, and you could count on it. And there are just more and more independents, and they’re voting more and more independently.“ Independent voters outnumber Democrats in deeply blue Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and they are a key voting bloc as Chafee tries to win the governor’s seat in November’s election without the backing of a political party.

• Independent candidate for governor of Maine, Eliot Cutler:

The Massachusetts Senate race was a great victory for the Republican candidate, but it was much more that. Scott Brown would not have won with the support of independents and disaffected Democrats. His victory was a repudiation of business as usual – of insider politics and a lack of accountability by those in power. I think Brown’s victory bodes extremely well for my candidacy as an independent and a new candidate with bold ideas and a track record of accomplishment that goes well beyond just politics.