ELECTION DAY was a role reversal for retired Town Clerk Barbara Stats who simply cast her ballot at the polls on Tuesday morning. Since she no longer runs these elections she had a chance to chat with poll workers she had worked alongside for decades, including Tom Vozzella (at right). (Maureen Doherty Photo)
Tarr retains state senate seat
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
NORTH READING — A Blue tsunami overtook the Red wave that had been predicted by many a pundit in Massachusetts in Tuesday’s mid-term election.
With a 61 percent voter participation rate in town, the majority of North Reading’s voters rode the tsunami that swept an all-Democratic slate of candidates into the state’s executive offices, led by the Maura Healey/Kim Driscoll ticket for governor and lieutenant governor over Republican challengers Geoff Diehl and Leah Allen.
There were 7,320 ballots cast by the town’s voters out of just over 12,000 registered voters. Of that total, 3,966 voted for Healey/Driscoll and 3,173 voted for Diehl/Allen, a margin of victory of 793 votes. The Libertarian candidates, Reed and Everett, picked up 96 votes, and there were 72 blanks cast and 13 write-ins or “other.”
Similarly, for Attorney General, Democrat Andrea Joy Campbell garnered 3,754 votes vs. the 3,346 votes for her Republican challenger, James R. McMahon III. A total of 217 blanks were cast and there were three write-ins.
Incumbent Democrat William Francis Galvin retains his seat as Secretary of the Commonwealth. Locally, he picked up 4,371 votes over GOP challenger Rayla Campbell who polled 2,705 votes for a margin of victory of 1,666 votes. Green-Rainbow party candidate Juan Sanchez got 96 votes and there were 144 blanks and two write-ins.
In the race for state Treasurer, incumbent Democrat Deborah B. Goldberg retained her seat. Locally, she received 4,431 votes. Challenger Christina Crawford, a Libertarian, got 1,752 votes here. There were 1,099 blanks cast and 38 write-ins from North Reading voters.
In the five-way race for state Auditor to replace outgoing Auditor Suzanne Bump, who chose not to run for re-election, local voters chose Republican Anthony Amore (3,366 votes) over Democrat state Sen. Diana DiZoglio (3,181 votes). DiZoglio, however, has been declared the winner statewide and Amore conceded. The other candidates running for that office were Green-Rainbow Party candidate Gloria A. Caballero-Roca (85), Workers Party candidate Dominic Giannone III (87) and Libertarian Daniel Riek (134). There were 464 blanks cast and three write-ins.
The town’s representative in Congress will remain Seth Moulton. The Salem Democrat polled 3,953 votes in town to defeat challenger Bob May, a Peabody Republican who polled 3,043 votes. A third-party candidate, Libertarian Mark Tashjian of Georgetown, got 118 votes and there were three write-ins.
For Councillor, incumbent Democrat Eileen R. Duff (3,546) withstood the challenge locally by Lynnfield Republican Michael C. Walsh (3,325) by a slim margin of 221 votes. There are 444 blanks and five write-ins.
TARR RETAINS SEAT
In the last contested race on the North Reading ballot, incumbent GOP Senator Bruce E. Tarr, the Senate Minority leader defeated Libertarian challenger Terrence William Cudney by 3,101 votes. Tarr got 4,865 votes to Cudney’s 1,764. There were also 673 blanks and 18 write-ins.
UNCONTESTED RACES
In the uncontested races, North Reading Republican and House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones Jr. polled 5,685 votes. There were 1,511 blanks and 124 write-ins.
Democrat District Attorney Marian T. Ryan got 4,706 votes and there were 2,428 blanks and 186. Write-ins
Also uncontested was Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian, a democratic candidate who got 4,726 votes. There were 2,430 blanks and 164 write-ins.
THE BALLOT QUESTIONS
The statewide results of the four ballot questions, with 86% to 87% of the precincts reporting as of press time Wednesday morning, per The Associated Press, were as follows:
Question 1: Raise income tax on incomes above $1 million.
51.8% Yes
48.2% No
86% reporting
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Question 2: Regulate dental insurance to require 83% of premiums to go toward dental care.
71.2% Yes
28.8% No
86% reporting
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Question 3: Regulate retail liquor licenses, the sale of alcoholic beverages and accept out-of-state licenses as a legitimate form of identification.
45% Yes
55% No
87% reporting
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Question 4: Uphold state law allowing a standard driver’s license to be issued to those not living legally in the U.S., set to be implemented in July 2023.
53.3% Yes
46.7% No
87% reporting
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NORTH READING’S BALLOT QUESTION RESULTS
In North Reading, voters bucked the statewide trend on two of the four questions.
Local voters defeated Question 1 by a margin of 1,308 votes, with 4,239 voting against, 2,931 voting in favor, and 150 blanks cast.
On Question 2, North Reading voters agreed with the statewide majority approving dental insurance regulation by a margin of 2,528 votes with 4,841 voting in favor of the measure and 2,313 opposed with 166 blanks.
On Question 3, North Reading voters agreed with the statewide majority and were not in favor of an expansion of the current liquor license regulations by a margin of 1,289 votes, with 2,885 voting yes and 4,174 voting no with 261 blanks.
On Question 4, North Reading voters sought the repeal of the law enacted this past year by the Legislature that will enable individuals not living legally in the U.S. to apply for a standard driver’s license [not a Real ID] as of July 2023. A total of 3,985 voters opposed the new law locally and want it to be repealed while 3,162 voted in favor of it.
