Whether the Suffolk and Middlesex seat will be kept by state senator Will Brownsberger or go to first-time challenger Daniel Lander in results from the Democratic primary held Tuesday was too close to call, according to The Boston Globe and to Lander, who released a statement to that effect overnight.
That may not hold true with Cambridge’s numbers known.
The district, which Brownsberger has held since 2009, includes the cities of Watertown and Belmont and parts of Cambridge and Boston. By 12:41 a.m., when Lander released a statement on the uncertainty, Cambridge had yet to report its unofficial tally from voting.
It did so at 2:08 a.m. There were 20,206 votes cast in Cambridge out of 70,250 registered voters, for 29 percent turnout. In the Suffolk and Middlesex District, 3,371 voted – and 1,818 of them, or 54 percent, voted for Lander, a Cambridge native. Brownsberger drew 1,553, or 46 percent.
But in unofficial results, Belmont turned out for Brownsberger, who lives there, with 3,974 votes for him (69 percent) and 1,793 for Lander (31 percent); Watertown gave Lander a bare edge, with 3,404 votes (51 percent) to 3,229 (49 percent) for the incumbent; in Boston, the too-close-to-call, two-decimal-point nature of the race was clear, with 11,168 votes (50.05 percent) for Brownsberger and 11,145 for Lander (49.95 percent).
Among these 38,084 ballots districtwide, the incumbent has 19,924, or 52 percent of the total, and Lander has 18,160, or 48 percent – likely a wide enough gap for certainty rather than a recount.
“Even with an election date chosen to disenfranchise renters across this district, this race is too close to call,” Lander said, referring to the start of September being a popular move-in day and start of school for many. “This election is incredibly close, and we will not know the results until every last vote is counted. But in the meantime, we’ll keep fighting to build a Massachusetts where everyone has the opportunity to build a good life.”
Brownsberger was already circulating recount petitions on Wednesday, according to Adam Gaffin of Universal Hub. He quoted Brownsberger as saying “The numbers are going up and down today as counts are finalized, but at the moment we are preparing to request a recount if needed.”
The winner will advance to the Nov. 3 general election against conservative Brandon Wood of Watertown.
As a Democrat in a district painted in blue, especially one that hasn’t faced a challenger within his party in more than a decade, Brownsberger has not had to do much to stay in power. The 69-year-old senator – now the body’s president pro tempore, who supports the president and steps in if they are absent – campaigned as a public servant for the people who put him on Beacon Hill to fight for affordable housing, immigrant protection and redistricting that increases representation for people of color in the state.
Lander, 35, a former aide to Boston mayor Michelle Wu who grew up in Cambridge’s Huron Village and Central Square, announced in December that he hoped to unseat Brownsberger. He campaigned to end stagnation in the Legislature and bring a sense of policymaking urgency to solving issues that plague Cambridge, Boston and the state – high costs of living, gaps in public transportation service and a lack of housing, among others.
