Polls are open in Dorchester, Charlestown, Chelsea, Malden, Melrose, Winchester, Stoneham, Wakefield and parts of Revere and Saugus (did I forget any place?) for several elections for State Representative and one State Senate.
It must be one of the coldest Election Day’s on record, so I feel bad for anyone who signed up to hold a sign today.
What are people seeing and hearing? Any turnout updates?
Please share widely!
Thanks for posting this! Town election in Westborough today.
I expect a very low turnout in our elections seeing as everyone is unopposed. I’m working at my day job but anxious to hear what is going on.
I vote in Ward 16, Precinct 2 and I believe I was 38th today. I am usually in the low 20’s and vote about the same time, so the turnout in Dorchester may not be too bad today.
According to Wakefield Patch by 42%. I haven’t found the percentages for the other candidates or the town by town results, but I suspect this was a race, much like the CD-5 itself, that would’ve benefitted from IRV.
Either way congratulations to Jason, abs and his other supporters on BMG, on a hard fought victory. The general is less than a month away and the Republican candidate is a well known Melrose Alderman. Unlike the Republicans, we had a competitive primary with decent turnout and I suspect this primary race has tested Jason and energized his supporters in a way that would not have happened had the decks stayed clear. While my candidate lost, I suspect this won’t be the last we hear from Anthony for awhile, he distinguished himself in this race and I appreciate all the help Fred, Terry, and others gave to him on BMG. Onto the general and a here’s to victory for our nominee!
Thanks for your note, jconway, appreciate it.
Thanks for your kind words and support, and yes, a competitive primary was energizing. Gathering results at Malden precincts last night, I found the the numbers frightening at first and am glad other towns came through. Haven’t seen town-by-town counts yet and I’m also curious. I join you in hoping Anthony Guardia stays involved and takes helpful lessons from this campaign. On to victory April 1!
I suspect we will see more of Anthony in the future, he did win 80% of the vote in Wakefield and did well in a run for the 9th Essex (Wong-R-Saugus) in the past. Not sure if he can rebound fast enough for 14′ or if that’s a race he is interested in, but he will still stay involved. In the meantime I am sure he will work for Jason while enjoying a respite from campaigning like a candidate.
In the meantime, I encourage everyone to visit his organization, Homestart, which provides housing for homeless vets and see for ways you can participate
I haven’t been able to find official numbers yet, but based on various statements I’ve heard this evening I expect the results to be approximately Lewis 42%, ‘Fallon 35%, Guardia 23%. Don’t have any hard numbers on turnout yet either, but based on what I saw during my poll watching shift in Stoneham this morning they will be very low. If I see official numbers before I turn in tonight I’ll update.
Based on numbers published this morning, it looks like Lewis 43%, Fallon 35%, Guardia 22%. Fallon and Guardia both won in their home towns and Lewis carried the rest of the district. Guess it’s time to make sure the general election on April 1 doesn’t turn into a real April Fool’s Day
I assumed the candidates would carry their hometowns and district towns, and that Reading and Melrose would be the real battlegrounds. Unfortunately, my candidate did not do as well in Melrose as he would’ve liked but Lewis was able to win big there. His Republican opponent is from Melrose so hopefully he can sustain his performance there to hold her totals down. Not sure how much crossover appeal she has but in his victory Lewis emphasized the extremism of the GOP state party platform. This race will be a good test of how that talking point plays out in a purple state senate district.
Yeah it wasn’t surprising to me either that Reading and Melrose were the battleground in this race. And it will be interesting to see how Monixa does.
Speaking of Melrose, this is a good overview of the results, I thought.
http://melrose.wickedlocal.com/article/20140304/NEWS/140308507/?tag=1
Hopefully the general will have higher turnout. I am unsure if my parents were able to register in time for the primary but I think they will be for the general and I’ll remind them to vote for Jason.
Total votes March 4 in Malden were 3420 dems and 197 reps. Compare that with the Oct 15 special primary (congressional), where there were 3714 dems and 409 reps. The difference in republican turnout can be attributed to the lack of a contest on March 4, but beyond that nearly 300 fewer democrats voted March 4 than Oct 15. For December 10, when Katherine Clark won her general election, the total vote in Malden was 3116, basically 11%, 600 fewer than for the primary. More republicans will turn out for the general on April 1, of course, but I don’t know if we can expect the democrat turnout to be substantially higher than it was Dec 10 and it may be lower. Some of the same dynamics are in play — people will assume the democrat will win, the weather will matter, and while some Fallon supporters will get behind Lewis, others may cross over or stay home. GOTV will be important. (All these numbers are available on malden.gov via various links from the City Clerk’s page, including yesterday’s Malden numbers.)
Difference in Primary vs. General for the congressional special election was 1000, not 600, as we need to count the republicans from the primary too.
Correct link for the city page: http://www.cityofmalden.org/Election-Resources/
In the 5th Middlesex there were about 11,000 votes cast in the Democratic and Republican primaries combined. With good turnout, for example the 2012 general, there are over 80,000 cast.
But it’s better than Westfield, where turnout for two uncontested primaries in the House district was below 4 percent.
I remember voting in the Ed Reilly-Kerry primary and being told I was the only person in the 18-30 year old cohort who had voted that day, and it was around 3pm when I voted. I partly blame the media. Print media, particularly local print media, tends to cover these races, but I betcha none of these races were even mentioned on local news. Town clerks and election commissions should also send email and snail mail reminders.
had no idea there was a primary for Marty Walsh’s old seat. I guess they live under a rock since the entire neighborhood was plastered with campaign signs. One friend actually told me he never reads the signs and thought they were left over from the mayor’s race. But they have very strong opinions on the clothes worn by Oscar winners.
Sigh.
In our town it seems like we’ve had a special election every few months since Ted Kennedy died. Especially since the Kerry resignation it’s been one domino after the next. Tuesday morning during my shift poll watching we had one voter who I had on my list as a Lewis supporter take her ballot, then turn to the friend she had arrived with and say “Oh my gosh, if Jason wins do we have to have ANOTHER one of these???” As she walked to the voting booth I wasn’t totally sure we still had her vote.
I also think the extreme weather yesterday morning may have held down turnout to some extent. We typically get a lot of voters coming by during the first hour the polls are open to vote on their way to work. Yesterday it was almost dead during that period.
Hopefully things will be better in April.
I don’t know if the House will schedule another special for Lewis’s seat this close to the regular cycle. I’d love for the constitution to provide that seats filled after nomination papers are out for the regular cycle be exempt from being up for election that cycle. (For example whoever wins this state senate seat should be able to stay until the 2016 election without having to run this fall IMO.)
That said, what’s another election to a regular voter? Just one more day to put on the calendar to stop at the neighborhood school on the way home from work. If it’s a special there are not likely to be lines and our absentee voter laws generously define unavailability. Living in a democracy takes a little bit of effort!
Revere still did a special. Is that up to the state or the community? At this point we would have a primary for his seat in May the earliest, general in June, and they would have to run again in a Sept primary and a Nov general. I like elections as much as the next junkie, but that’s a little much.
One of Fallon’s campaigners last night seemed quite sure there would not be a special election to fill the winner’s seat.
It seems the Speaker or the entire House must set a date, but perhaps they can set it for the date of the next regular election?
…for yesterday. Malden 12%, Melrose 10.3%, Reading 6.3%
Wakefield hasn’t posted its numbers and Stoneham hasn’t listed the TRV, so I can’t compute the turnout. As I recall, our turnout in Malden runs around 65% for presidential elections. For the curious, the various cities/towns in 5th Middlesex, with the exception of Wakefield, have posted their numbers. You just have to hunt for them.
On unofficial numbers, Dan Ryan won the 2nd Suffolk primary. RoseLee Vincent won the 16th Suffolk.
Ryan had about 2,300 votes (2,100+ Charlestown, 200+ Chelsea). Avellaneda had about 1,100 votes (1K+ Chelsea, 100+ Charlestown).
I don’t have the Saugus figures, but Vincent had approx 1,100 votes to 600 Rosa and 450 Monahan without them.
Dan Hunt wins primary vote to succeed Walsh in House, according to the Dorchester Reporter.