Primary Election Results and Analysis
This is my analysis of the primary elections. I have used the same format as the MassResistance election analysis to make it easy to compare. I am only analyzing the primary races here. (Green means they are pro-gay rights. Red means they are anti-gay rights.) The projected winners are who I thought would win. Under that is the actual winners.
INCUMBENTS challenged in primaries (14 races):
If the incumbent rep is good and they were re-elected I will call it a "save". If the incumbent rep is good and they lost to a bad candidate I will call it a "lost". If the incumbent rep is bad and they lost to a good candidate I will call it a "pick-up". If the incumbent rep is bad and they were re-elected I will call it as "no change".
House - 12th Essex (Peabody)
D - Joyce Spiliotis, 85 Gardner St., Peabody
D - Sean R. Fitzgerald, 6 Elaine Ave., Peabody
Projected Winner: Joyce Spiliotis - NO CHANGE
Actual Winner: Joyce Spiliotis - NO CHANGE
House - 5th Suffolk (Boston/Dorchester)
D - Marie St. Fleur, 45 Hartford St., Boston
D - Severiano Cruz, 38 Dacia St., Boston
D - Roy Owens, 6 Woodville St., Boston
Projected Winner: Marie St. Fleur - SAVE
Actual Winner: Marie St. Fleur - SAVE
House - 10th Worcester (Milford/Mendon/Hopedale)
D - Marie J. Parente, 13 Reagan Rd., Milford
D - John V. Fernandes, 320 Purchase St., Milford
Projected Winner: Marie Parente - NO CHANGE
Actual Winner: John Fernandes - PICK UP (This is HUGE! At first Fernandes said that he wanted to "let the people vote" on marriage. But he recently stated that he believes that same-sex couples deserve the right to marry and that he will vote against any amendment to the constitution that would deny those rights. Marie Perente has in office for 20 years. She has been one of the gay community's biggest opponents on every issue we have faced. The anti-gay groups must be crying over her lost!)
House - 12th Norfolk (Norwood/Walpole)
D - John H. Rogers, 194 Plantation Cir., Norwood
D - Leah C. O'Leary, 13 Devon Rd., Norwood
Projected Winner: John Rogers - SAVE
Actual Winner: John Rogers - SAVE
House - 11th Hampden (Springfield)
D - Benjamin Swan, 837 State St., Springfield
D - Larry Lawson, 484 Hancock St., Springfield
D - Norman W. Oliver, 377 St. James Ave., Springfield
Projected Winner: Ben Swan - SAVE
Actual Winner: Ben Swan - SAVE
House - 13th Bristol (New Bedford)
D - Antonio F.D. Cabral, 212 Maple St., New Bedford
D - Brian K. Gomes, 66 Clara St., New Bedford
Projected Winner: Antonio Cabral - SAVE
Actual Winner: Antonio Cabral - SAVE
House - 16th Worcester (Worcester)
D - John P. Fresolo, 25 Dolly Dr., Worcester
D - Melissa J. Murgo, 179 Delmont Ave., Worcester
Projected Winner: John Fresolo - NO CHANGE
Actual Winner: John Fresolo - NO CHANGE
House - 8th Worcester (Webster/Uxbridge/Dudly)
D - Paul Kujawski, 71 Klebart Ave., Webster
D - Mark G. Dowgiewicz, 16 Reid Smith Cove Rd., Webster
Projected Winner: Paul Kujawski - NO CHANGE
Actual Winner: Paul Kujawski - NO CHANGE
House - 9th Essex (Lynn/Saugus/Lynnfield)
D - Mark V. Falzone, 9 Broadway, Saugus
D - Sean P. Grant, 485 Central St., Saugus
Projected Winner: Mark Falzone - SAVE
Actual Winner: Mark Falzone - SAVE (Mark beat his opponent with 60% of the vote. MassResistance had sent out a mailing for the anti-gay challenger. But, once again, MassResistance has lost!)
House - 7th Bristol (Fall River)
D - Robert Correia, 1290 Plymouth Ave., Fall River
D - Kevin Aguiar, 48 Coral St., Fall River
D - John J. Rodrigues, 36 Lenox St., Fall River
Projected Winner: Robert Correia - NO CHANGE
Actual Winner: Robert Correia - NO CHANGE
House - 4th Berkshire (Pittsfield/Lenox)
D - William "Smitty" Pignatelli, 339 Housatonic St., Lenox
D - Patrick Long, 84 Alford Rd., Great Barrington
Projected Winner: William “Smitty” Pignatelli - SAVE
Actual Winner: William “Smitty” Pignatelli - SAVE
Senate - First Worcester (Worcester/Boylston/Holden)
D - Harriette L. Chandler, 97 Aylesbury Rd., Worcester
D - Deirdre Healy, 963 Pleasant St., Worcester
Projected Winner: Harriette Chandler - SAVE
Actual Winner: Harriette Chandler - SAVE
Senate - Fourth Middlesex (Arlington/Billerica/Burlington)
D - Robert A. Havern, III, 35 Bartlett Ave., Arlington
D - Joanna Gonsalves, 16 Lexington St., Woburn
Projected Winner: Robert Havern - SAVE
Actual Winner: Robert Havern - SAVE
Senate - Second Suffolk (Boston)
D - Dianne Wilkerson, Boston (write-in candidate)
D - Sonia Chang-Diaz, Boston (write-in candidate)
R and D - Samiyah Diaz, Boston (write-in candidate)
Projected Winner: Dianne Wilkerson - SAVE
Actual Winner: Dianne Wilkerson - SAVE
OPEN SEATS - Incumbents not running again (12 races):
This is where we really picked up some votes! I will mark the out-going reps as either red or green so you can see where we picked up votes. If the out-going rep is good and we elected a good candidate, I will call it a "save". If the out-going rep is good and we elected a bad candidate, I will call it a "lost". If the out-going rep is bad and we elected a good candidate to replace them, I will call it a "pick-up". If the out-going rep is bad and we elected another bad candidate, I will call it as "no change".
House - 15th Essex ( Methuen)
OUT-GOING: Rep. Arthur Broadhurst (D)
D - Linda Dean Campbell, 42 Sugar Pine Ln., Methuen
D - Edward F. Curran, 7 Cypress Ave., Methuen
D - Christopher DiBella, 4 Bumpy Ln., Methuen
D - Michael W. Hennessy, 9 Stevens St., Methuen
Projected Winner: Christopher DiBella - SAVE (Tough to call. I am hoping it is DiBella. My second guess would be Linda Dean Campbell)
Actual Winner: Linda Dean Campbell - LOST (This is a sad loss and very personal for me. I ran the DiBella GOTV campaign on election day. We got all of his votes out, but it just wasn't enough. We expected 4000 people to vote. Instead, there was record turnout in Methuen. 6000 people turned out to vote. We lost by 192 votes.)
House - 3rd Hampden (Agawam)
OUT-GOING: Rep. Daniel Keenan (D)
D - Carley R. Johnson, Jr., 135 Country Rd., Agawam
D - Joseph Mineo, 33 Maple Meadows Ln., Agawam
D - Rosemary Sandlin, 90 Granger Dr., Agawam
Projected Winner: Rosemary Sandlin - PICK-UP
Actual Winner: Rosemary Sandlin - PICK-UP
House - 28th Middlesex (Everett/Malden)
OUT-GOING: Rep. Ed Connolly - deceased (D)
D - Frank Nuzzo, Jr., 20 Evelyn Rd., Everett
D - Stephen Stat Smith, 53 Clarence St., Everett
D - Rosemary Miller (write-in candidate)
Projected Winner: Stat Smith - PICK-UP
Actual Winner: Stat Smith - PICK-UP
House - 6th Suffolk (Mattapan/Roxbury)
OUTGOING: Rep. Shirley Owens-Hicks (D)
D - Willie Mae Allen, 85 Deering Rd., Boston
D - William R. Celester, Sr., 115 Hazleton St., Boston
Projected Winner: I have no idea. They are both good on our issues. - PICK-UP
Actual Winner: Willie Mae Allen - PICK UP
House - 6th Worcester (Southbridge/Charlton/Spencer)
OUT-GOING: Rep. Mark Carron (D)
D - Geraldo Alicea, 13 Deer Run, Charlton
D - Patrick J. Driscoll, 35 Donnelly Rd., Spencer (openly gay)
D - Scott S. Lazo, 36 Ellis Rd., Southbridge
D - Joanne E. Powell, 15 Dodge Ln., Charlton
D - Karen A. Spiewak, 90 Osgood Rd., Charlton
Projected Winner: Joanne Powell - NO CHANGE (This one is very tough to call. I would love to see Pat Driscoll win, but his campaign is not very strong. I really hope that I am wrong about this one.)
Actual Winner: Geraldo Alicea - NO CHANGE (This was a surprise to me. Alicea has said that he wants the people to vote. But it is possible for us to change his vote. At least Powell didn't win. She was horrible. So this is not too bad)
House - 12th Hampden (Springfield/Wilbraham)
OUT-GOING: Rep. Gale Candaras (D)
D - Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr., 44 South Shore Dr., Springfield
D - Jim Driscoll, East Longmeadow (write-in candidate)
Projected Winner: Angelo Puppolo - NO CHANGE (The write-in candidate does have a small chance here. If he turns his campaign around in the next two weeks we could see a pick-up. This is not likely though.)
Actual Winner: Angelo Puppolo - NO CHANGE
House - 3rd Worcester (Fitchburg)
OUT-GOING: Rep. Emile Goguen (D)
D - Stephen L. DiNatale, 150 Walton St., Fitchburg
D - David P. Leblanc, 30 Silver St., Fitchburg
D - Mary H. Whitney, 12 Pine St., Fitchburg
Projected Winner: Stephen DiNatale - PICK-UP
Actual Winner: Stephen DiNatale - PICK-UP
House - 1st Bristol (Foxborough/Mansfield/Norton)
OUT-GOING: Rep. Virginia Coppola (R)
D - Matthew J. Donovan, 101 M Chestnut St., Foxborough
D - Paul R. Feeney, 182 North St., Foxborough
D - Claire B. Naughton, 4 Everett Ln., Foxborough
Projected Winner: Clair Naughton - PICK UP
Actual Winner: Clair Naughton - PICK UP
House - 4th Barnstable (Cape Cod)
OUT-GOING: Rep. Shirley Gomes (R)
D - Ronald J. Bergstrom, 1347 Old Queen Anne Rd., Chatham
D - Raymond C. Gottwald, 38 Huckleberry Path, Harwich (openly gay)
D - Sarah K. Peake, 7 Center St., Provincetown (openly gay)
R - Andrew G. Buckley, 202 Lime Hill Rd., Chatham
R - Donald F. Howell, 14 Haskell Ln., Harwich
R - Aaron R. Maloy, 81A Finlay Rd., Orleans (openly gay)
Projected Winner in the Democratic Primary: Sarah Peake - PICK-UP
Projected Winner in the Republican Primary: Don Howell - PICK-UP (Howell is pro-equality and pro-choice. This race is very interesting. There are three openly gay candidates. However, one of the gay candidates is republican that is anti-gay, anti-equality and anti-choice.)
Actual Winner: Sarah Peake - PICK-UP
Actual Winner: Aaron Maloy - NO CHANGE (I am VERY surprised to see that Maloy won this race. He is openly gay and totally anti-gay. Now we will see the pro-gay lesbian Democrat face off against the openly gay anti-gay Republian. This is a crazy race! I am excited now though because I organize on Cape Cod and I will get to take down this gay-hating-gay. I am counting this one as a PICK-UP because Peake will beat Maloy in November.)
House - 4th Bristol (Rehoboth/Seekonk)
OUT-GOING: Rep. Philip Travis (D)
D - Nicholas D. Bernier, 494 Sharps Lot Rd., Swansea
D - Steven J. D'Amico, 81 Briarwood Dr., Seekonk
D - Robert A. Marquis, 298 Vinnicum Rd., Swansea
D - John W. Whelan, 15 Woodward Ave., Seekonk
Projected Winner: Steve D’Amico - PICK UP
Actual Winner: Steve D’Amico - PICK UP
Senate - Berkshire, Hampshire & Franklin (Pittsfield/North Adams)
OUTGOING: Sen. Andrea Nuciforo (D)
D - Benjamin Brackett Downing, 123 Pomeroy Ave., Pittsfield
D - Christopher Hodgkins, 100 Franklin St., Lee
D - Helen Sharron, 343 Huntington Rd., Worthington
D - Margaret Johnson Ware, 24 Moorland St., Williamstown
D - John T. Zelazo, 22 Summit Ave., Adams
Projected Winner: No matter who wins: - SAVE (I don't know anything about this race but I would like to see Christopher Hodgkins win.)
Actual Winner: Benjamin Brackett Downing - SAVE (This race was decided by just a couple hundred votes. I am very happy with the result. Benjamin will be great.)
Senate - First Hampden & Hampshire (Springfield/East Longmeadow)
OUT-GOING: Sen. Brian Lees (R)
D - Brian Michael Ashe, 107 Belleclaire Ave., Longmeadow
D - Rep. Gale D. Candaras, 643 Tinkham Rd., Wilbraham
D - Rosemarie Mazza-Moriarty, 95 Osborne Ter., Springfield
Projected Winner: Gale Candaras - LOSE (This is considered a lose because Candaras voted against us when she was in the House. However, we might be able to convince her to be with us in the future. Hopefully this will end up being a save.)
Actual Winner: Gale Candaras - LOST (Let's keep woring to bring Candaras over to our side.)
This is the result of the primary elections:
We SAVED 10 pro-equality incumbents
We saw NO CHANGE in 6 anti-equality seats
We PICKED-UP 8 pro-equality seats previously held by anti-equality reps (This is HUGE!)
We LOST 2 open-seats to an anti-equality candidates (who we might be able to switch!)
These numbers are only for the primary election. These could change after the general election.
This means that we have picked up 6 more votes to defeat the anti-gay constitutional amendement!
