Updated: 11:02 p.m.Republicans immediately hailed GOP state Sen. Scott Brown’s upset victory over Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley in Tuesday’s Massachusetts Senate special election as a repudiation of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) 60-vote supermajority and his efforts to push through sweeping health care reform. “There’s a reason the nation was focused on this race: The voters in Massachusetts, like Americans everywhere, have made it abundantly clear where they stand on health care. It’s clear that they don’t want this bill and want Washington to listen to them. Americans are investing their hopes in good Republican candidates to reverse a year-long Democrat trend of ignoring the American people on the issues of health care, spending and the growth of government,— Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said.Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) charged that the outcome shows Democrats aren’t listening. “Massachusetts voters have sent a clear message that the Democratic majority in Congress is not in touch with the American people and that we should restart the health care reform debate. Sen.-elect Brown’s independent voice will help provide a much-needed check and balance to a Congress that has become dominated by runaway spending and partisan politics,— Alexander said. Brown surged late in the race to succeed the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). Democrats quickly began pointing fingers for Coakley’s loss and the fall of the Democrats’ supermajority hold on the Senate. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), one of Kennedy’s closest friends in the Senate, argued that Democratic incumbents should see Brown’s success as a harbinger for them this November. “Scott Brown’s victory over Martha Coakley in Massachusetts is truly historic and provides a very positive development for our country because it removes one of the president’s rubber-stamp votes in the Senate. Sen. Brown’s vote here in the Senate should provide at least one more hurdle to some of the wrong-minded policies being pursued by the president and Senate Democrats,— Hatch said. “Brown’s triumph also may serve as a harbinger of what is to come in this year’s elections if elected officials in Washington don’t set aside their far left agenda and mend fences with mainstream America. It signals that liberal Democrats in Washington are out of step with the American people.—National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) agreed, arguing that, “As we look forward to the midterm elections this November, Democrats nationwide should be on notice: Americans are ready to hold the party in power accountable for their irresponsible spending and out-of-touch agenda, and they’re ready for real change in Washington.—Senate conservatives were emboldened. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), one of Brown’s earliest backers, said the victory “proves that mainstream, conservative candidates can win anywhere in the country. … It proves that conservative candidates can win in states like Pennsylvania, Florida, California, Illinois and Delaware where the Republican establishment has said only moderates can win.— “Conservatives should be very proud of what they accomplished in Massachusetts tonight, but this is just the beginning. We must continue to engage in Senate race after Senate race to make sure the leaders we send to Washington put principle ahead of party and fight to take our country back,— he added.The conservative 60 Plus Association wasted little time in launching a petition to immediately seat Brown.“Scott Brown must be seated without delay to represent the people of Massachusetts in the critically important healthcare debate. This petition drive makes it clear the citizens of Massachusetts and the American people support the swift seating of Scott Brown. Sign the petition and send Sen. Harry Reid a message — Seat Scott Brown, Now,— 60 Plus President Amy Frederick said Tuesday.