Coakley Concedes in Massachusetts Senate Race

Massachusetts attorney general Martha Coakley has called her Republican opponent, state senator Scott Brown, to concede the U.S. Senate race. The call came in about 80 minutes after the polls closed, according to TheBoston Globe.

Brown sustained an early lead over Coakley with a 53% of the vote, versus 46% for Coakley with 75% of precincts reporting. Independent candidate Joseph Kennedy took 1% of the vote.

As attorney general Coakley filed a lawsuit in July against the federal government on behalf of the 16,000 married same-sex couples in the state who were denied federal rights under the Defense of Marriage Act. She garnered hundreds of key endorsements, including that of President Barack Obama, who made a last-minute appeal to voters for his party's candidate.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that Obama was "both surprised and frustrated" at the closeness of the Massachusetts race.

Brown was the underdog in the race until about a week ago but used voters' frustration with the federal deficit and the pending health care bill to gain a leg up.