Democratic candidate Niki Tsongas, the widow of the late Senator Paul Tsongas, has won the special election today in Massachusetts to succeed former Congressman Marty Meehan — but not by much in this solidly Democratic district and state.

With 170 of 195 precincts reporting, Tsongas won by a mere 51%-46% margin, a possible sign of discontent with the Democratic Congress' performance and a testament to the campaign run by Republican Jim Ogonowski, whose brother was killed on 9/11.

But a word of caution to those who think this result means the Democratic Congress is losing on the issues: Ogonowski himself ran on a platform in favor of a timeline for leaving Iraq, and he may have stalled as a result of giving an equivocating answer on how he would vote on an SCHIP veto override. Tsongas, meanwhile, was heavily weakened by a divisive Democratic primary.

A new SurveyUSA poll shows Democrat Niki Tsongas in an uncomfortably tight race with Republican Jim Ogonowski in the special election battle to succeed Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA) in the House.

Tsongas leads Ogonowski by 51% to 42% in the poll, virtually unchanged from one month ago when Tsongas led by 10 points. Among Independent voters, Ogonowski has a 13 point advantage (up from 7 in September). Among self-described moderates, though, Tsongas has gained 15 points since the last poll.

However, in a special election, turnout models are notoriously difficult to predict, and this race could wind up a lot closer — or perhaps just the opposite — when voters go to the polls this coming Tuesday.

Don't miss this one. A GOP House candidate whose brother was the airline pilot of one of the hijacked planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11 is airing a new, heavily emotional, must-see TV ad that contains testimonials to his later brother and images of the towers.

The ad is the work of Republican Jim Ogonowski, a hard-charging candidate vying for the vacant seat of Democrat Marty Meehan in a special election this month. In it, Ogonowski's sister-in-law praises Jim for taking over the family farm after the brother's death while an image of a jet a second away from contact appears on the screen. "I don't know that we would have been able to keep this house and farm if it weren't for Jim. He's someone that you would want representing us in Congress."