BOSTON (January 19, 2010)--Republican Scott Brown won Tuesday in the race to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat that Democrat Edward Kennedy held for nearly a half-century.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry congratulated Brown Tuesday night.

“His election, along with the election last November of Republican governors in Virginia and New Jersey, should send a loud and clear message that the states of this great nation will continue to reject the misguided policies coming out of Washington, D.C.,” Perry said.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who’s challenging Perry in the March GOP primary, agreed that voters sent a message to Washington Tuesday.

“This historic win sends a clear message to President Obama and the Democrats in Congress. The American people, no matter whether they come from Texas or Massachusetts, are angry with the Democrats' proposal for a government takeover of our healthcare system and the out of control spending we've seen in the last year,” she said.

Brown led the state’s Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley in the polls going in to Tuesday’s election, but Coakley and her supporters expressed confidence at the start of the day, Tuesday.

Brown's victory in the special election gives Senate Republicans the 41st vote they need to block legislation favored by majority Democrats and President Barack Obama.

The victory not only shifts the balance in the U.S. Senate, but also may signal a shift in the mood of voters on which the GOP can capitalize in this year’s midterm elections.

Earlier Tuesday, Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele called the election crucial and said Democrats who dominated politics a year ago are finding the landscape "very different" now.

Former Democratic Party Chairman acknowledged "an anti-incumbency mood" and said his party would have to produce a healthy voter turnout to avoid an upset.

There were claims Tuesday of irregularities at the polls, but Massachusetts Secretary of State discounted them and said two reports of spoiled ballots could not be verified and were not found to be widespread.

In one case, someone voting in Cambridge claimed a ballot had already been marked for Republican Scott Brown.

There was no way to verify the claim, but the ballot was destroyed.

In another case, a person in Boston reported finding a ballot inside a privacy folder also marked for Brown.

Officials say an earlier voter may have left it inadvertently.