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Linda Dorcena Forry Wins State Senate Seat

BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts state Senate seat long held by men from South Boston has been won by a woman from Dorchester.

Linda Dorcena Forry
Linda Dorcena Forry.

Democratic state Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry on Tuesday won an overwhelming victory over Republican Joseph Ureneck in the special election for the First Suffolk seat. Forry got more than 80 percent of the votes, according to unofficial results.

Forry replaces Jack Hart, who resigned for a private sector job.

The seat has long been held by Irish-American men from South Boston. Current U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch held the seat before Hart, and former state Senate President William Bulger held it for 25 years before Lynch. Forry is of Haitian descent.

She says she's looking forward to serving the entire district, which includes Mattapan and parts of Hyde Park.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

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