Newton voters cast at least 35,000 ballots on election day Tuesday, according to unofficial election results from the City of Newton. The local results follow a statewide trend, sending a swath of Democratic candidates to office.
In the races for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer, and auditor, Newton voters supported Democratic candidates.
The city will certify the election results on Nov. 23.
Of the 11 races on the ballot for Newton voters, seven lacked a Republican challenger. In the contested races—gubernatorial, attorney general, treasurer, and auditor elections—Democrats won by at least 10,000 votes in Newton, according to the city’s unofficial results.
The City of Newton cast over 35,000 votes this election, with more to come from overseas and provisional ballots, compared to over 40,000 votes counted in 2018 after the city certified the results, according to Mayor Ruthanne Fuller’s election-day newsletter.
Despite a lack of competition on the ballot, voters had concerns about political and social issues that affect Newton and the nation.
Rich O’Neill, one Newton voter, cast his ballot at John Ward Elementary School, which was converted into a polling place for election day. He said he prioritized abortion rights on his ballot Tuesday.
“How about preserving democracy and preserving people’s bodily autonomy?” O’Neill said outside the polling station.
In the governor and lieutenant governor race, Maura Healey and her running mate Kim Driscoll had over 21,000 votes more in Newton than Republican candidate Geoff Diehl and his running mate Leah Allen, according to the city’s unofficial results.
Healey and Driscoll made abortion rights a central focus of their campaigns. With her win, Healey becomes Massachusetts’ first elected female governor, as well as the nation’s first openly lesbian governor.
Attorney General-elect Andrea Campbell, whose historic candidacy positioned her to become Massachusetts’ first Black attorney general, also made abortion rights a key theme of her campaign.
The group of four women running for statewide office celebrated the historic nature of their victories.
The electees for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and state auditor—Healey, Driscoll, Campbell, and Diana DiZoglio, respectively—posed alongside each other in a Twitter post on Wednesday.
“We might be the first, but we won’t be the last,” Healey’s post reads. “To every little girl out there, we want you to know—there’s no ceiling you can’t break.”
Massachusetts residents could vote on four statewide questions on the ballot, including proposing tax increases for high earners, new regulations for dental insurance, expanded availability of licenses to sell alcohol, and a new state law allowing immigrants to obtain state driver’s licenses.Only the ballot question that sought to expand the availability of alcohol licenses failed in the commonwealth, according to The New York Times.
Mail-in ballots postmarked on or before Tuesday will be counted as long as the city received the ballots by Saturday at 5 p.m., according to a newsletter from Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller.
“I thank City Clerk Carol Moore, our election, IT and police staff, poll workers and volunteers who worked not just today but over the course of the past five months to run the state primary and today’s election,” Fuller wrote.
Update (11/13/2022. 12:45 p.m.): This article was updated to include a quote from Governor-elect Healey and additional information from Mayor Fuller.
