‘We Will Persist': Warren Wins Re-election to US Senate

Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, among her party's harshest critics of President Donald Trump, has won re-election in Massachusetts.

"Nevertheless, we will persist," she said in her victory speech.

Warren on Tuesday defeated Republican state Rep. Geoff Diehl, the Massachusetts co-chair of Trump's 2016 campaign, and independent Shiva Ayaddurai.

"When I first ran for the Senate six years ago, I asked you to take a chance on someone who had never even run for office before," Warren said. "You took that chance, you sent me into the fight, and tonight, you told me to stay in the fight."

She also referenced the Trump presidency, saying, "It has been a tough two years... ugh."

But together, she said, "we have marched, we have run, we have persisted and insisted that our voices be heard, that our votes be counted and that our values be respected. And in two months, and at least for the next two years, the House of Representatives — The People's House — is going to do a lot more work for the people. Tonight, I make you this promise: we are just getting started."

Decision 2018: Live Election Results

Source: AP
Credit: Sam Hart/NBC

Warren has generated considerable speculation about a possible run for the White House in 2020, recently saying she'd take a "hard look" at a presidential bid after the Senate race was over.

The former Harvard Law School professor recently released a DNA test suggesting that a distant ancestor was Native American, an effort to rebut Trump's frequent mockery of her claim to Native American heritage.

Diehl claimed Warren was ready to abandon Massachusetts to run for president.

Warren countered that Diehl, if elected, would be a rubber stamp in Washington for Trump's agenda.

"We fought hard the past 18 months," Diehl said in his concession speech. "Unfortunately, we came up short on this final goal, but I am proud of the honest and principled campaign that we ran."

Earlier Tuesday, Warren refused to say that the midterm elections in Massachusetts were about President Donald Trump.

"I try to stay focused on the issues, not on division and hate," she said.

She did, however, acknowledge that the Democrats needed allies in Washington to protect and fight for "shared values."

There were also five contested U.S. House races on the ballot Tuesday.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton handily won re-election in the 6th Congressional District, defeating Republican Joseph Schneider. Democratic U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark cruised to re-election over Republican John Hugo in the 5th District. U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern won re-election after fending off a challenge from Republican Tracy Loworn in the 2nd District. And in the 3rd District, Democrat Lori Trahan defeated Republican Rick Green. In the 9th District, Democrat Bill Keating beat back a spirited challenge from Republican Peter Tedeschi.

There was no electoral drama for Democratic U.S. Reps. Joe Kennedy, Stephen Lynch and Richard Neal, who ran unopposed in Massachusetts.

All three won easily Tuesday, as did Ayanna Pressley, who unseated veteran Rep. Michael Capuano in September's primary and becomes the state's first black woman in Congress.

Kennedy is returning to Congress for a fourth term representing the 4th District, which covers mostly southern Massachusetts. He was first elected in 2012.

It will be Lynch's ninth full term representing the 8th District, which covers eastern Massachusetts and part of Boston. Lynch first was elected in 2001 to serve out the remainder of the late Joe Moakley's term.

Neal, the dean of the Massachusetts House delegation, was first elected in 1988 and will be serving his 16th term representing the 1st Congressional District, which covers a large swath of the central and western part of the state.