(CNSNews.com) – Rasmussen Reports, the only firm to attempt an exit poll on the surprise race, found that health care was the biggest issue weighing on Massachusetts voters’ minds as they stepped into the ballot box on Tuesday.

The special election to fill the Senate seat of Democrat Edward Kennedy ended with Republican Scott Brown defeating the state’s attorney general, Democrat Martha Coakley, by five points.

According to Rasmussen, 56 percent of voters named health care as their top issue when they left polling stations, but staying true to their usual support for a strong welfare state, Massachusetts voters actually handed Coakley a narrow win on the issue (53-46 percent)...