Half of registered voters turn out in Wareham, vote in line with state results

Nov 5, 2014

Wareham saw 7,186 residents, representing 48 percent of registered voters, come out to the polls on Tuesday and voice their opinions on a number of contested races and four ballot questions.

In the race for Massachusetts governor, residents voted for Republican Charlie Baker over Democrat Martha Coakley by a tally of 3,803 to 2,877. Baker was declared the winner of the state election early Monday morning.

The closest vote in Wareham, and the only result that did not match the overall state result, was for state Treasurer. Residents voted for Republican Mike Heffernan over Democrat Deb Goldberg by a vote of 3,322 to 3,234. Goldberg won the election with 56 percent of the vote across the state.

Wareham voted in line with the rest of the state in all other races and ballot questions. Residents overwhelmingly voted No on Question 2, which asked to expand bottle deposits to all non-alcoholic beverages, by a total of 5,531 to 1,531. Voters also helped to allow casinos in the state by voting No on Question 3, which asked to ban casinos, by a total of 4,919 to 2,131.

In the race for state Attorney General, Wareham narrowly voted for Democrat Maura Healy over Republican John Miller by a tally of 3,667 to 3,261. Another narrow vote was on Question 1, which asked to eliminate the requirement that the gas tax automatically increase annually with inflation. Wareham voted Yes, to eliminate the requirement, by a tally of 3,689 to 3,255.

Residents voted for incumbents in a number of races, including seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, which saw almost identical tallies in Wareham.

Residents voted for Democratic Rep. Bill Keating over Republican challenger John Chapman for the ninth district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 3,713 to 3,238 and Democratic Sen. Ed Markey over Republican challenger Brian Herr by a vote of 3,737 to 3,221.

Wareham also voted for State Sen. Marc Pacheco over Republican challenger David Rosa for a seat in the state Senate by a vote of 4,031 to 2,834. State Rep. Susan Williams Gifford ran unopposed.

On Question 4, which would require employers to give earned sick time to workers, Wareham voted Yes by a tally of 3,816 to 3,224.

Voter turnout in Wareham was about as high as the previous mid-term election in November 2010, which saw 8,067 voters go to the polls, representing 53 percent of registered voters.