Democrat Elizabeth Warren will be the next Senator from Massachusetts, ousting Republican Sen. Scott Brown in a tight race.

NBC called the race shortly after 9:30 p.m.

Warren, a Harvard professor, chaired the Congressional Oversight Panel charged with implementing the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act after the financial crisis in 2008, and worked with the Obama administration to establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Warren’s campaign got off to a slow start. She was seen as having a slight advantage in the highly Democratic state, leaving Democrats grumbling as she struggled to pull ahead of Brown.

She also had to contend with a controversy surrounding her claims to a Native American heritage, for which she was unable to provide documentation.

Brown is running as an independent and a centrist, a necessity for any Republican seeking office in a deep-blue state like Massachusetts. Warren began to gain ground when she successfully nationalized the race – making it not about Brown, but about the Republican party that would potentially get control of the senate if he were reelected.

“Tonight is a great night for the people of Massachusetts and for the middle class across the country,” said Sen. Patty Murray, Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “Elizabeth Warren energized the people of her state like no one believed was possible, and together they took back Senator Kennedy’s seat. I am so proud of what she accomplished in this campaign, and I look forward to working side by side with her, fighting for the middle class in the US Senate.”

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