Winchester returns incumbents as both its Senate seats turn over

Winchester kept the officials it already had Tuesday. U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey, Gov. Maura Healey and U.S. Rep. Katherine M. Clark were reelected, and state Rep. Michael S. Day won the town’s only contested legislative race.

What Winchester could not keep was a senator from Winchester.

State Sen. Jason Lewis, who lives in town, announced Feb. 24 that he would leave the Fifth Middlesex seat he won in a 2014 special election. State Sen. Patricia Jehlen, a Somerville Democrat who has held the Second Middlesex seat since 2005, said in February it was time to retire after 50 years of public service.

Both districts cover parts of Winchester. Both seats now go to unopposed newcomers who live in other cities. In one, Winchester’s own Democratic primary voters had backed someone else.

All results are unofficial, from Town Clerk MaryEllen Marshall’s preliminary count sent at 9:23 p.m. Tuesday. Turnout was 61.2%: 10,585 ballots cast by 17,297 registered voters, with all eight precincts voting at the Winchester High School gymnasium on Skillings Road.

Town’s primary pick falls short in Second Middlesex

The Second Middlesex District takes in Winchester Precincts 4, 5, 6 and 7 along with Medford, Somerville and part of Cambridge. State Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven of Somerville drew 3,505 votes in Winchester and 57,784 across the district.

The real contest came Sept. 1. Uyterhoeven, a third-term representative, a democratic socialist and a former Bernie Sanders campaign staffer, won the Democratic primary with 12,546 of 35,912 ballots, or 34.9%. State Rep. Christine Barber, endorsed by Healey and Jehlen, finished second with 10,340.

Winchester voted differently. In the town’s four Second Middlesex precincts, Barber led with 618 of 1,918 Democratic ballots, or 32.2%. Uyterhoeven had 461, or 24.0%.

Third in Winchester, with 307 votes or 16.0%, was Tom Hopcroft. He had ended his campaign July 28.

In the Fifth Middlesex District, which covers Winchester Precincts 1, 2, 3 and 8 plus Malden, Melrose, Reading, Stoneham and Wakefield, the town and the district wanted the same candidate. State Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian of Melrose drew 3,538 votes in Winchester Tuesday. Lewis endorsed her Aug. 25, and six Winchester officials, including Select Board Chair Anthea Brady, joined him.

She won the Sept. 1 primary with 15,890 of 27,889 Democratic ballots districtwide, or 57.0%. In Winchester’s four Fifth Middlesex precincts, she took 1,165 of 1,794 ballots, or 64.9%.

Lipper-Garabedian chairs the House Committee on Ethics. In January she and Uyterhoeven join the 40-member Senate as freshmen, without the committee chairmanships Jehlen and Lewis held.

Day carries both towns in only contested legislative race

The day was clear and sunny outside the high school. Day’s supporters lined the curb near the entrance with black-and-white “Michael Day, State Representative” signs. Across the drive, Republican Stephen G. Ternullo’s campaign had a canopy, a red-draped table and a banner reading “Stephen Ternullo, State Rep. Your Money. Your Right to Know.”

Day, who has held the 31st Middlesex seat since January 2015, defeated Ternullo with 68.2% of the 19,049 votes cast for the two candidates across the district, 12,991 to 6,058. The Associated Press (AP) called the race for Day.

Winchester gave him the wider share. Day won 6,273 of the 8,566 votes in the town’s seven precincts in the district, or 73.2%. In Stoneham, he won 6,718 of 10,483, or 64.1%.

Treasurer nominee leads Republican ticket in town

The AP called the U.S. Senate race for Markey shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m. and the governor’s race for Healey at 8:01 p.m. It also called the 5th District race for Clark, who was unopposed.

In Winchester, Markey took 6,946 of 10,314 Senate votes, or 67.3%. Healey and Lt. Gov. Kimberley Driscoll drew 7,006 of 10,435, or 67.1%.

Republican John Deaton won 2,959 Senate votes in town, or 28.7% of the 10,314, in a four-way race where two other candidates drew 409. Three of the four other Republican statewide nominees on the ballot drew more votes than he did. Treasurer nominee Elizabeth Dionne led with 3,323, or 364 more than Deaton. Michael C. Walsh, for attorney general, had 3,257, and Michael Minogue, for governor, had 3,225. No Republican ran for auditor.

Further down the ballot, Winchester voters left the Northeast Metro Tech regional school committee race for the Malden seat blank on 5,494 ballots, more than the 5,010 who voted for either candidate.

Voters back records law, reject marijuana sales ban

Question 1, which would apply the public records law to the Legislature and the governor’s office, drew 8,887 Yes votes to 1,318 No in Winchester, or 87.1% of the 10,205 who answered. The AP called it for Yes statewide, where Yes had 1,208,594 votes to 195,051, or 86.1% of 1,403,645, as of 12:23 a.m. Wednesday.

Massachusetts is the only state where the Legislature, the governor’s office and the judiciary all claim exemptions from the law, according to the Society of Professional Journalists.

Winchester voted 7,314 to 2,999 against Question 8, which would end recreational marijuana retail sales; No took 70.9% of the 10,313 votes. The AP projected the question failed statewide, GBH reported.

The town also said Yes to Election Day voter registration and keeping the 2024 gun law, along with Questions 2 and 6, and No to a single top-two primary, smaller lots for single-family homes and the revenue cap question. Statewide outcomes on those questions have not been confirmed.

Late ballots, certification still to come

Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrive by Friday, Nov. 6, can be counted after 5 p.m. that day. Clerks must certify results by Nov. 18, and the governor and Governor’s Council are tentatively scheduled to certify final results Dec. 2.

Question 1 now moves to Beacon Hill, where legislative leaders have been negotiating a narrower public records bill. State Auditor Diana DiZoglio has said she would consider suing if lawmakers answer the vote with a narrower measure.

In January, two freshmen will represent Winchester in the Senate: one from Melrose whom the town’s departing senator endorsed, and one from Somerville whom the town’s own Democratic primary voters placed second.

Will Dowd is a Massachusetts journalist who covers municipal government and community life for Winchester News. He is also the founder and editor of The Marblehead Independent, a reader-funded digital newsroom.