Like the rest of the state, Plymouth voters backed Democratic incumbents across the ballot on Tuesday, from the governor to local state representatives.
The re-election campaigns of U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and Gov. Maura Healey were both successful, as were the local campaigns for incumbent state Sen. Dylan Fernandes and state Rep. Michelle Badger. State Rep. Kathleen LaNatra appeared headed to victory as well as votes were still being counted on Wednesday.
All results remain unofficial until state elections officials certify the results. These tallies are preliminary results as reported by the Associated Press. Plymouth numbers come from the town clerk.
Plymouth voters also sided with the rest of the state on six of the nine ballot initiatives, voting in favor of keeping marijuana legal, increased transparency in state government, and to uphold a ban on guns in public buildings and parks.
But unlike the rest of the state, Plymouth voters supported an effort to limit taxes and voted against initiatives for same-day registration and to make it easier to build single-family homes on small lots. Those three ballot questions remained too close to call early Wednesday.
Turnout was strong.
Between in-person and mail-in voting, 32,366 of Plymouth’s 54,960 registered voters took part in the election that ended Tuesday night, a turnout of 58.9%, beating the 57.3% turnout in the last midterm election, in 2022.
Around 10 a.m. Tuesday, At South Elementary School, home to three of Plymouth’s 18 precincts, 30 to 40 people were either waiting to vote or waiting to put their ballots in the box.
Democrat Dylan Fernandes, of Falmouth, was re-elected to the state Senate to represent the district that includes Plymouth.
Fernandes defeated Republican Bourne School Committee member Kari MacRae in the race for the Plymouth and Barnstable Senate seat.
“It’s an honor to represent the people of Plymouth, and this was a huge win for me, but more importantly, the people who supported my campaign,” Fernandes said. “We ran a really grassroots campaign focused on meeting directly with people where they are. It’s also a reflection of the work we’ve been doing in Plymouth to bring back more funding to the community.”
Fernandes won Plymouth with 18,523 votes to MacRae’s 12,562, according to preliminary results from the Town Clerk.
The district includes Plymouth, Kingston, Pembroke, Plympton, Bourne, Sandwich, Mashpee, and Falmouth.
“Socialist communism for the win,” MacRae said in a text message on Wednesday. “This was voting against Trump, not for Dylan Fernandes.”
Democrat Michelle Badger won re-election to her House seat, defeating Republican Select Board member David Golden with 14,221 votes to 9,652.
“I’m just so thankful to the people of Plymouth for putting their trust in me,” Badger said Wednesday. “I’m just so excited to keep doing this work for the people of Plymouth. It’s been an honor of a lifetime.”
“I know she will continue to work hard for our district, and I wish her all the best as she continues to serve,” Golden said in a text message. “To everyone who supported my campaign and placed their confidence in me, thank you. We all want what is best for Plymouth, and that shared commitment is far more important than any election.”
The 1st Plymouth district includes all of Plymouth except for downtown, North Plymouth, and parts of West Plymouth.
Those parts of town are in the 12th Plymouth district, where incumbent Democrat Kathleen LaNatra was leading Republican Eric Meschino 8,362 to 6,480 votes districtwide, with 49% of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press.
LaNatra won the Plymouth part of the district, 4,502 to 2,777.
The district includes her hometown of Kingston as well as Plympton and parts of Halifax, Middleborough, and Pembroke.
In the U.S. Senate race, Markey got 17,314 Plymouth votes to Republican John Deaton’s 13,157.
In the governor’s race, Healey won 16,846 Plymouth votes to Republican Mike Minogue’s 14,130.
Like voters statewide, Plymouth voters supported ballot initiatives to expand the state’s public records law to the governor and the Legislature, allow public defenders to unionize, allow same-day voter registration, create natural resource conservation fund, and uphold the state’s 2024 gun law including a ban on firearms in public buildings and parks. Plymouth voters also tracked the rest of the state in their opposition to open primaries and the repeal of legalized recreational cannabis. Marijuana will remain legal and available.
Unlike the rest of the state, Plymouth voters voted for a ballot initiative that would cap taxes and against same-day voter registration and an initiative to make it easier to build single-family homes on small lots.
Ballot question 4, supported by voters statewide by a margin of 56.4% to 43.6% with 88 percent of the vote counted, would allow voters to register on the day they vote. Plymouth voters opposed the measure, 16,747 to 14,689.
Ballot question 5, opposed by voters statewide by 52.5% to 47.5% with 80% of the vote counted, according to the AP, would limit state revenue collection, tying it to prior year collections plus average wage and salary growth, and provide taxpayers with a rebate of revenue exceeding that limit. Plymouth voters supported the initiative by a vote of 16,240 to 14,275.
Ballot question 7, supported by voters statewide by a slim margin of 195 votes with 80% of the vote counted, according to the AP, would allow single-family homes to be built on lots of 5,000 square feet or more in residential areas, subject to “reasonable local regulation of certain aspects of those homes.” Plymouth voters rejected the measure by a vote of 17,957 to 13,153.
Plymouth results were posted at 1:30 a.m., an unusually late hour for the town clerk’s office.
Town Clerk Kelly McElreath said a large election day turnout delayed the process of scanning early votes during the day. Unofficial results could not be printed until those ballots were scanned.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org
Independent reporters Andrea Estes and Emily Spatz contributed to this report.