Vineyard voters followed most statewide voting trends in the primary election Tuesday, casting ballots for winning gubernatorial candidates Martha Coakley and Charles Baker and attorney general candidate Maura Healey.
But Democratic voters on the Island also came out in strong numbers for gubernatorial candidate Donald Berwick, a seasonal Vineyard resident. The Island was divided when it came to the Democratic governors' race, with down-Island towns supporting Ms. Coakley and up-Islanders casting ballots for Mr. Berwick.
Voter turnout was low on the Vineyard and statewide for the election that decided candidates for the general election Nov. 4. About 17 per cent of Island registered voters turned out Tuesday. Turnout was highest in Chilmark, where about 24 per cent of the town's registered voters cast votes at the Chilmark Community Center. Oak Bluffs and Edgartown had the lowest voter participation, less than 16 per cent.
About 81 per cent of the ballots cast on the Island were for the Democratic races. Out of 2,430 voters, 461 voted in the Republican primary.
In Aquinnah, not a single Republican voter came out on Tuesday; all 75 voters used the Democratic ballot. Town clerk Carolyn Feltz said this was a first in her time as town clerk. While there are few Republican voters in Aquinnah, there are usually a few at the polls, the town clerk said. She said no unenrolled voters opted for Republican ballots and no registered Republican voters came to the polls.
Other town clerks reported slow election days. At 7:30 p.m., just after the street lamps along Main street switched on, all was quiet at the Edgartown town hall, with no voters in sight. “It’s been like this all day,” town clerk Wanda Williams said. A few minutes later, though, three voters came by to cast some of the last ballots of the day.
The mood was similarly relaxed in Chilmark, where a few voters came by in bare feet. Constable Marshall Carroll 3rd, standing near the hand-cranked ballot box, noted the low turnout.
The key state races were for governor and attorney general. Ms. Coakley, the current attorney general, won the Democratic primary. But the Island was split when it came to the Democratic governor’s race. Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven went for Ms. Coakley, while Mr. Berwick had the most support in Aquinnah, Chilmark and West Tisbury. A tally of all Island votes shows Ms. Coakley came out slightly on top with 39 per cent of the vote, and Mr. Berwick followed with 37 per cent.
Mr. Berwick is a longtime seasonal resident of Chilmark. Ms. Coakley also has Vineyard connections. Her sister lives on the Island, and Ms. Coakley lived here for a short time before law school.
Mr. Berwick also carried Gosnold, the seventh town in Dukes County and smallest town in the state. Twelve out of 144 registered voters turned out Tuesday to vote on the Elizabeth islands. Mr. Baker got all three Republican votes, while Mr. Berwick got four votes, Ms. Coakley got three votes and a third candidate for governor, state Treasurer Steven Grossman got two.
On the Vineyard, Mr. Grossman averaged about 23 per cent of votes on the Island.
Support was similarly divided between lieutenant governor candidates, with half the towns supporting Ms. Coakley’s running mate and eventual winner Stephen J. Kerrigan, and the other half supporting Leland Cheung.
Mr. Baker was the clear winner on the Republican side, defeating opponent Mark R. Fisher with an average of 77 per cent of the Vineyard vote.
Mr. Baker and Ms. Coakley will now face off in the November election.
Maura Healey was also the clear Vineyard winner in the contested attorney general race, earning about 71 per cent of the Island vote. She will face John B. Miller, who ran unopposed on the Republican ballot.
In the only other contested race for statewide office, Vineyard voters supported winning state treasurer candidate Deborah Goldberg.
Ninth district U.S. Rep. William Keating did not have an opponent in the Democratic primary. There was a four-way race on the Republican ballot to run against him in November.
John C. Chapman of Chatham, a former White House aide and investigator with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, won the nomination.
In this race Island voters went their own way, backing Mark C. Alliegro, a Falmouth resident and senior scientist at Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. Mr. Alliegro won about 38 per cent of Republican votes, while Mr. Chapman trailed with 28 per cent.
Cape and Islands state Sen Daniel A. Wolf did not face a primary challenger. In November, he will face Ronald R. Beaty Jr. on the ballot.
Mr. Beaty, a Tea Party candidate from Barnstable, got about 44 per cent of the vote on the Island, while his opponent Allen R. Waters got about 33 per cent of votes.
Vineyard voters supported incumbent Oliver P. Cipollini Jr. in a four-way contest for first district governor’s council. Challenger Joseph C. Ferreira won.
There were three candidates on the primary ballot for seven spots on the Dukes County Commission.
John S. Alley was the top vote getter, followed by incumbent Leon Arthur Brathwaite 2nd and David Jeffrey Holway.
There were multiple write-in votes for the county commission; current commissioner Christine Todd, who ran a write-in campaign, received more than 60 write-in votes. Leonard Jason Jr., Jim Malkin, Thomas Hallahan and Tristan Israel all received more than one write-in vote.
Temperatures were about 70 degrees Tuesday, with a hint of fall in the air.
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