In a deep blue area in a very blue state, where many seats were decided during September party primaries, the most exciting votes in Tuesday’s general election were for nine statewide ballot questions. There, initiatives made it possible that gun control, the cannabis industry and Massachusetts’ approach to elections could be overturned with the end of party primaries.
In Somerville, those outcomes all played out to keep the status quo. According to unofficial results from the Election Commission, voters opted to keep gun controls in place by 88 percent, not dismantle the cannabis industry by 89 percent and not adopt the so-called “jungle primaries” backed by private equity investors by 71 percent.
In Somerville voting on other ballot questions, expansion of public records law won with 93 percent of the vote; allowing state public defenders to unionize by 88 percent; allowing Election Day voter registration by 86 percent; keeping current state tax revenue limits by 77 percent; creating a nature conservation fund by 76 percent; and allowing smaller lots for single-family homes by 77 percent.
Predictably, Somervillians gave Democrat Maura Healey a reelection win over Republican Michael Minogue with 86 percent of the vote; returned Democrat Ed Markey to the U.S. Senate with 82 percent of the vote; gave Democrat Andrea Joy Campbell 91 percent of the vote; and continued to give Democrats the win downballot too: William Francis Galvin for secretary of state with 92 percent; Deborah Goldberg for treasurer with 89 percent of the vote; Diana DeZoglio for auditor with 93 percent; and Tara DiCristofaro for register of probate with 94 percent.
Turnout was an estimated 40 percent, according to the commission, which saw around 22,371 voters out of 56,008 people who were registered to vote.
The count will be certified, and counts become official, on Nov. 18.
