Published in the March 2, 2016 edition
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD – Yesterday’s Presidential Primary election results in Wakefield mirrored statewide and even national Super Tuesday results, with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton winning the Republican and Democratic races respectively.
On the Republican side, New York businessman Donald Trump trounced his opponents soundly among Wakefield voters. His 2,064 votes (53.6 percent) were more than triple the total of his closest rival locally, John Kasich, who garnered 652 votes (16.9 percent).
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s 599 votes (15.5 percent) were good for third place locally, while Texas senator Ted Cruz finished with 399 votes (8.8 percent). Bringing up the rear was Dr. Ben Carson who pulled in 67 votes.
Trump’s local vote total of 2,064 was more than 400 votes greater than the combined total of all of the remaining active GOP candidates. Kasich, Rubio, Cruz and Carson together garnered 1,717 votes in Wakefield.
On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defeated Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders among Wakefield voters, but the race was much closer.
Clinton finished with 2,651 votes (49.6 percent) locally, edging Sanders, who garnered 2,558 votes (48 percent) by 93 votes.
The nail-biter on the Democratic side locally had echoes statewide, as Clinton beat Sanders in Massachusetts by about 2 percentage points.
Clinton was also able to claim victory in six more states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Sanders won four states: His home state of Vermont plus Oklahoma, Minnesota and Colorado.
Trump’s big win in Wakefield also mirrored results in Massachusetts and other states. The billionaire’s 48.8 percent in the Bay State was 30 percentage points higher than his closest statewide rivals Kasich and Rubio, who each received about 18 percent of the vote. Cruz (9.5 percent) and Carson (2.6 percent) brought up the GOP rear in Massachusetts.
Trump also won Super Tuesday contests in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia.
Cruz won in his home state of Texas as well as in Oklahoma.
Rubio was able to claim victory in just one state, Minnesota.
There were also district-wide races on yesterday’s Wakefield primary ballot for State Committee Man and state Committee Woman for each party. Wakefield is part of the Fifth Middlesex District, which comprises Melrose, Malden, Wakefield, Reading, Stoneham and Precincts 1, 2, 3 and 8 of Winchester.
Robert E. Aufiero won the Republican State Committee Man contest in Wakefield with 1,861 votes (62 percent), defeating rival David D’Arcangelo, who garnered 1,117 votes (37.7 percent).
For Republican State Committee Woman, Caroline Colarusso’s 1,897 votes (62 percent) bested Alice K. Shattuck’s Wakefield total of 1,158 votes (38 percent).
Ben Tafoya ran unopposed for Democratic State Committee Man and K. Manning Hall was unopposed for Democratic State Committee woman.
Also elected yesterday in Wakefield were 35 Democratic Town Committee members and 35 Republican Town Committee members.
