Wareham voters favor Lynch, Gomez in U.S. Senate primary election

May 1, 2013

Wareham voters favored Democrat Stephen F. Lynch and Republican Gabriel E. Gomez in a special primary election to choose candidates for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by John Kerry, who now serves as U.S. Secretary of State.

Statewide, however, Edward J. Markey of Malden got the Democratic nod.

In Wareham, U.S. Congressman Lynch of Boston garnered 641 votes to Congressman Markey's 611.

On the Republican ballot, voters chose Gomez of Cohasset, who received 383 votes in Wareham and the overall statewide vote. Gomez is a veteran and former Naval Special Warfare Lieutenant Commander.

Republicans Michael J. Sullivan of Abington gathered 266 votes in Wareham, while Daniel B. Winslow of Norfolk garnered 47 votes in Wareham. Those candidates took second- and third-place respectively statewide as well.

Sullivan was formerly a U.S. Attorney and Plymouth County District Attorney. Winslow is a current State Representative and former District Court judge.

In Wareham, 1,255 Democratic ballots and 696 Republican ballots were cast, for a total of 1,951 ballots. The town has slightly more than 15,270 registered voters, making voter turnout nearly 13%.

To compare, only 1,658 of voters, or just more than 10% , cast ballots in the April 2 annual town election.

"Primaries are usually very slow," Town Clerk Mary Ann Silva noted. "I was a little bit surprised at the turnout. It was a lot better than I thought."

The special election to fill the Senate seat will be held June 25.