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The 2024 election is now in the books, as far as Winchester is concerned — and residents turned out in force to cast their ballot, whether by mail, early voting or showing up in person on Nov. 5.
About 76% of the town’s 17,193 registered voters showed up at the polls Tuesday. Many residents held signs to back their favorite national and state candidates, with a contingent of Yes on 6 proponents reminding Winchester residents to flip the ballot and support the Community Preservation Act.
Overall, residents threw their support behind the measure, with 6,501 in the affirmative to 5,652 in the negative, a difference of 850 votes. There were about 921 ballots with the question left blank.
National races
As national races were being tabulated in the presidential race, Winchester threw its support behind Vice President Kamala Harris with 8,833 votes to former president Donald Trump with 3,611. Coming in third was Green Party candidate Jill Stein with 103 votes followed by Chase Oliver with 94 votes, Shiva Ayyadurai with 65 votes and Claudia De la Cruz with 19 votes.
Harris would eventually lose the evening to Trump, 53 votes shy of the 270 electoral votes needed to secure the presidency. Harris won 47.5% of the popular vote, with 224 electoral votes while Trump secured 51% of the vote and 277 electoral votes.
Incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Warren was the candidate of choice for residents, with 7,961 votes going her way while GOP candidate John Deaton received 4,598 votes.
Warren won the race with 60% of the vote, with Deaton coming in with 40% of the vote.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark received 9,127 votes with 279 write in votes cast and 3,668 ballots left blank. Clark was unopposed in her re-election to the 5th District.
Massachusetts races
All four members of Winchester’s state delegation will be returning to their seats at the State House in January, with none running opposed this election.
Sen. Pat Jehlen received 4,292 votes in Winchester, Sen. Jason Lewis received 4,408 votes, Rep. Michael Day received 7,642 votes and Rep. Michelle Ciccolo received 1,056 votes.
In other state races, Winchester residents supported the following:
• Councilor, 6th District: Terrance Kennedy — 8,317 votes
• Clerk of Courts: Michael Sullivan — 8,394 votes
• Register of Deeds for Middlesex Southern District: Maria Curtatone — 7,465 votes
• There was no candidate in the race for Regional School Committee, Northeast Metropolitan, although there were 1,200 write in votes.
Residents also made their feelings known over the state’s five ballot initiatives.
Question 1, which asked whether or not the state auditor should be allowed to audit the Legislature, Winchester voted 8,647 in the affirmative and 3,355 in the negative. The measure won 71.5% to 28.5%.
Question 2, which asked to remove the MCAS as the primary requirement for high school graduation, Winchester did not support the measure, with 7,182 voting no while 5,461 voted yes. The yes votes won statewide, 59% to 41%.
Question 3, which asked whether transportation drivers should be allowed to unionize, also failed in Winchester, with 6,481 votes against and 5,682 votes for. With 92% of the vote counted statewide as of Nov. 6, the measure seemed to be winning with 54% of the vote to 46%. However, the question had yet to be called as a final win.
Question 4, which asked if certain psychedelics, such as mushrooms, should be legalized, Winchester’s answer was a resounding no, with 8,171 against and 4,217 for. The town seemed to be following the state trend, as Massachusetts voters also said no, 57% to 43%.
Question 5, which asked to increase the minimum wage of tipped workers, also failed in Winchester, with 7,788 voting no and 4,541 voting yes. Statewide, voters also said no, with an overwhelming 64.1% of the vote to 35.9%.
All results of the election in Winchester are preliminary until certified by the state.
Check out the Winchester elections website for results.
For real-time results from the presidential race, as well as the Massachusetts ballot questions, check out our special Election 2024 page.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated Nov. 6 to reflect current results in the election.
