 Brown is a member of the Republican Party , and faced the Democratic candidate , Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley , in the 2010 special election to succeed U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy for the remainder of the term ending January 3 , 2013 . While initially trailing Coakley in polling by a large margin , Brown saw a sudden late surge in the polls and posted a surprise win to become the first Republican elected to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts since Edward Brooke in 1972 . Brown ran for a full Senate term in 2012 , but lost to Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren . He subsequently joined the board of directors of Kadant paper company , joined Fox News as a commentator , and joined Nixon Peabody where he provided legal services . 
