Gov. Charlie Baker cruised to victory over challenger Jay Gonzalez on Tuesday night’s General Election, and nearly became the first Republican governor to win Boston in decades.
Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito won convincingly statewide with 67 percent of the vote, and in Boston he lost to Gonzalez by only one percentage point, 50.5 percent to 49. 1 percent.
An interesting angle in the downtown neighborhoods was the fact that Baker had surging support in the Back Bay, but lost nearly every precinct in the South End.
In the Back Bay, Baker won 5-6 by a margin of 716 to 367, and 5-9 by a margin of 943 to 661.
Meanwhile, in the South End, Gonzalez won locations like Tent City 1060 to Baker’s 713. In 8-1 and 8-2 at Cathedral High, Gonzalez beat Baker by nearly 200 votes in both precincts.
During his victory party at the Hynes Convention Center in the Back Bay, he said his administration will continue to build bi-partisan relationships to tackle the tough issues.
“The people of Massachusetts elected us four years ago to bring fiscal discipline, a reform minded approach to governing, and a commitment to bipartisanship to state government,” he said. “We have done just that. Every single day. And today, the voters have spoken. They like what we are doing and they appreciate the way we work. So here’s the good news. That collaborative, purposeful and humble approach to governing is exactly what you are going to get from us and from our team for the next four years. Non-stop. Let’s rock.”
- For District Attorney, Rachael Rollins won big citywide over Mike Maloney. Rollins had been a controversial candidate in submitting a “list” of crimes she would decline to prosecute during the campaign last summer. That “list” had gotten a lot of attention after the September primary victory, and she has spent most of the last month explaining the plan – which would essentially divert resources from smaller, quality-of-life crimes to investigate larger crimes like homicide, rape and aggravate assaults.
Citywide, Rollins won with 81 percent of the vote.
On Tuesday night, Rollins’ said her election reflects a widespread demand for change in a criminal justice system that for too long has not worked fairly for everyone. Rollins has promised to bring new solutions to the office that will break down wealth and racial disparities, keep communities safe and treat all people with dignity and respect.
“I am humbled by the trust the voters have placed in me to serve as Suffolk County’s next District Attorney,” said Rollins. “I am beyond grateful for the hard work of our volunteers and the support of our community over the last nine months since we launched this campaign. Voters sent a very clear signal today that our criminal justice system is not working for too many people and it’s time for a change. We will start by creating an office that adequately reflects the communities it serves and that is engaged with every neighborhood within the county. Then together we’ll make our criminal justice system better and work to strengthen relationships between communities and law enforcement.”
- Question 1 on mandated nurse staffing ratios was defeated easily statewide, and also was defeated with 64 percent of the vote in Boston. Questions 2 and 3 both passed muster statewide and in Boston.
- Locally, state elected officials were unopposed, but did get a significant vote nonetheless.
State Rep.-elect Jon Santiago got 11,082 votes, State. Rep. Jay Livingstone got 9,502 votes, State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz got 14,349 votes, and State Rep. Chynah Tyler got 7,249 votes. State Sen. William Brownsberger got 26,951 Boston-only votes and State Sen. Joe Boncore got 21,669 Boston-only votes.