Markey, Gomez to face off for U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts

BOSTON, April 30 (UPI) -- Republican Gabriel Gomez and Democrat Edward Markey will vie for the seat of former U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., after both won primaries Tuesday.

Gomez, 47, a businessman and former Navy SEAL, had 50.7 percent of the vote with 93 percent of precincts reporting, Politico reported. His closest rival for the GOP nomination was Michael Sullivan, who received 36 percent.

Markey, a U.S. congressman from Massachusetts' 5th Congressional District, took 57.5 percent of the vote, while Steven Lynch, who represents the state's 8th District in the U.S. Congress, received 42.5 percent.

"The Senate is the nerve center of dysfunctional Washington and we need to get it working again," National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Jerry Moran of Kansas said in a statement. "Gabriel Gomez is just the sort of next generation leader we need to help turn it around. Gabriel Gomez is the kind of results-oriented leader who will bring a never say die attitude and spirit of service to the Senate on behalf of the Bay State."

"Gabriel Gomez is a pro-life Republican who was the spokesman for a super PAC that attacked President Obama over the killing of Osama bin Laden," Markey campaign spokesman Andrew Zucker said in a statement. "He opposes an assault weapons ban, supports devastating cuts to Social Security, and while he's running as a 'businessman,' he refuses to discuss the 16 years he spent in private equity."

The primary contests received little attention as the state was consumed with the response to the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260 others.

Markey is heavily favored to win the June 25 special general election in the blue state, though Republican Scott Brown in 2010 won the seat vacated by Democratic icon the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.