The Republican state senator was declared the victor about 9 p.m. Tuesday night. Politico has more details on the shock victory in Democrat-dominated Massachusetts.

The win will likely reverberate into Pennsylvania’s elections this year, particularly the U.S. Senate race. Incumbent Arlen Specter faces Joe Sestak in the Democratic primary there, with the winner almost certainly facing former congressman Pat Toomey in the fall.

Toomey’s campaign, less than an hour after Brown’s victory, issued a press release saying the voters in Massachusetts made their voices heard in opposition to one-party rule in Washington and the health care bill.

“Everyone can agree that we need real health care reform in this country,” Toomey said in a statement, “but it is clear that Americans all across the country are rejecting the Democrats’ sweetheart deals, tax hikes, and massive spending. It is time to start over and begin the process of working on bipartisan, commonsense health care reform that brings real competition to the health insurance market and lowers the cost of care.”

Sestak’s campaign released a statement shortly before 11 p.m., saying Brown’s victory shows voters want new elected officials.

“One year after President Obama’s historic election, we have lost the seat of Senator Ted Kennedy and have seriously jeopardized his life’s work of seeing that all Americans have access to health care,” Sestak said in a statement. “Back-room political dealing in the Senate delayed this bill, weakened this bill, and tarnished it in the eyes of the American people.

“The message to Democrats is clear,” he continued. “People have had enough of establishment politics on both sides, such as Senator Specter’s party switch after 30 years as a Republican in order to save his job. The people are looking for a new generation of accountable leadership. We must do what we were elected to do: get rid of the old politics of Washington and the Senate and get to work for America’s working families.”

Click here to read reaction from Specter’s campaign.

Tags: Arlen Specter, Joe Sestak, Pat Toomey

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