Over the weekend, Massachusetts Democrat delegates held their party convention, and it wasn’t good for Coakley. Not only did she fail to come in first, she barely inched out a second place finish over a first-time candidate. State Treasurer Steve Grossman pulled in 35% of the vote, Coakley received 23% and Don Berwick received 22%.
According to the convention rules, a candidate must receive a majority of the vote to receive the endorsement of the party. Rather than risk an even more embarrassing showing with the delegates, Coakley withdrew from a second ballot, allowing the party to easily endorse Grossman. As a result, Grossman’s name will appear at the top of September’s primary ballot and he will be identified as the “Endorsed Candidate Of The Massachusetts Democrat Party.”
According to The New York Times, many of the delegates “remain bitter at the loss and said they were not ready to risk letting the governor’s office fall out of Democratic hands.” Coakley says she learned from her 2010 loss to Scott Brown, but her campaign seems lackluster at best.