Mass. AG Coakley to face Republican challenger after lawyer gets primary write-in votes

Mass. AG Coakley to face write-in GOP challenger

BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has a Republican opponent in November after all.

The secretary of state’s office said Thursday that former prosecutor James McKenna of Millbury garnered more than the necessary 10,000 write-in signatures during Tuesday’s primary elections. That assures him a place on the Nov. 2 general election ballot.

A second Republican, Guy Carbone, also attempted a write-in campaign.

A campaign spokesman says Coakley welcomes the challenge.

Coakley was defeated by Republican Scott Brown in the special U.S. Senate race in January to replace the late Edward Kennedy.

But the state Republican Party failed to draft any candidates to challenge her in the attorney general’s race. That prompted McKenna and Carbone to attempt write-in campaigns.