A tidal wave of support from independent voters propelled Republican Scott Brown to victory in liberal Massachusetts, exit polls found — striking fear in the hearts of elected Democrats across the country.
Independents were anxious to send a message to Washington that they don’t want health-care reform as it now stands in Congress — and saw a vote for a Republican Senate candidate as the best way to block the legislation, pollsters said.
An exit poll by Rasmussen Reports found that a staggering 73 percent of independents — voters not affiliated with any party — cast their ballots for Brown, compared with 23 percent for Democrat Martha Coakley.
A separate exit poll by Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates put the ratio closer to 2-to-1, with 64 percent of independents backing Brown and just 34 percent backing Coakley, once viewed as the hands-down favorite to win.
“Health care was the top issue in this race and voters were voting against the Obama health-care plan,” wrote pollster Tony Fabrizio in a memo describing the poll’s findings based on phone interviews with 800 voters statewide.