Canton voters pick winners in November 4 election

More than 8,700 Canton voters made their way to the polls in Tuesday’s statewide election, and when it came to picking winners, the town was spot on, opting for Republican Charlie Baker for governor over Democrat Martha Coakley while approving ballot questions 1 and 4.

In one of the closest gubernatorial races in Massachusetts history, Canton voters leaned heavily in favor of the governor-elect, who garnered 57 percent of the local vote and carried all six precincts. Coakley, the former state attorney general who suffered a shocking defeat to Republican Scott Brown in a bid for U.S. Senate in 2010, finished a distant second in Canton with just over 38 percent of the vote. Other candidates receiving votes for governor included Evan Falchuk (2.7 percent), Jeff McCormick (0.6 percent), and Scott Lively (0.5 percent).

In the lone contested federal race, Canton voters picked yet another winner in Democratic incumbent Ed Markey, albeit by a significantly narrower margin over Republican challenger Brian Herr (53 to 42 percent). Voters also helped reelect U.S. Representative Stephen Lynch, the Democratic incumbent in the 9th Congressional District, who ran unopposed for an eighth consecutive term.

In all of the other statewide races, Canton voters went for the Democratic candidate, choosing Maura Healey for attorney general over John Miller (54 to 41 percent); Deb Goldberg for treasurer over Michael Heffernan (46 to 44 percent); incumbent William C. Galvin for secretary of state over Dave D’Arcangelo (69 to 25 percent); and incumbent Suzanne Bump for auditor over Patricia Saint Aubin (48 to 40 percent).

Also winning reelection on Tuesday were incumbent state Representative Bill Galvin (D-Canton), incumbent state Senator Brian Joyce (D-Milton), and incumbent Governor’s Councillor Robert Jubinville (D-Milton), all of whom ran uncontested.

In the only contested Norfolk County race, Canton results were similar to the remainder of the county, with incumbent County Commissioner Peter Collins easily beating Republican challenger Michael Soter 52 to 33 percent. Other county officials who were reelected Tuesday include incumbents Michael Morrissey for district attorney, Patrick McDermott for register of probate, and Joseph Connolly for county treasurer.

As for the ballot questions, Canton went the way of the state on all four binding questions. Voters backed Question 1, which repeals the state’s automatic gas tax increases (55 to 41 percent), and Question 4, which will enable employees to earn and use paid sick time (51 to 46 percent). Voters also resoundingly opposed Question 2, which would have expanded the state’s beverage container deposit law to include nearly all non-alcoholic beverages (81 to 18 percent), and Question 3, which would have repealed the state’s expanded gaming law, thus prohibiting casinos, slot machines, and wagering on simulcast greyhound races (63 to 35 percent).

The Canton ballot also included a nonbinding fifth question calling for a “Democracy Amendment” to the U.S. Constitution, which would affirm that rights are for “natural persons only” (not corporations) and that “both congress and the states may place limits on political contributions and spending.” Voters approved the proposal by a margin of 58 percent to 20 percent.

The overall voter turnout in Canton was solid for a midterm election, with an estimated 57 percent of registered voters casting ballots. That is slightly down from the 2010 midterm election, which had a turnout of roughly 65 percent.

Nevertheless, Canton Town Clerk Tracy Kenney said voter traffic was steady at each of the four polling locations for much of the day and evening. “We had a very good turnout,” she said. “All of the precincts were busy all day long.”

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=27437

Posted by Jay Turner on Nov 6 2014. Filed under News, Town Election, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.