Montgomery Town Hall and Library. (Photo: Town of Montgomery website)
HILLTOWNS – The towns of Blandford, Chester, Huntington, Montgomery and Russell all had high voter turnout on Nov. 6, with percentages of voters ranging from 65% in Chester to 76% in Montgomery going to the polls. Voting numbers were 604 in Blandford, 575 in Chester, 952 in Huntington, 456 in Montgomery and 694 in Russell.
The towns voted with Westfield in selecting Geoff Diehl over Elizabeth Warren for U.S Senator, bucking the state trend, where Warren won by 61% to Diehl’s 36%, and Libertarian candidate Shiva Ayyadurai received 3.9% of the votes statewide. In Blandford, Diehl received 350 votes to Warren’s 225, and Ayyadurai’s 15 votes. In Chester, the vote was Diehl 315, Warren 232, Ayyadurai 15; in Huntington, Diehl 453, Warren 439, Ayyadurai 45; in Montgomery, Diehl 265, Warren 167, Ayyadurai 18, and in Russell, Diehl 398, Warren 260, and Ayyadurai 27.
All of the towns voted for U.S. Representative Richard Neal in an uncontested race, although many ballots were left blank, with Neal receiving 392 votes in Blandford, 377 in Chester, 659 in Huntington, 308 in Montgomery and 479 in Russell.
The towns overwhelmingly supported the Baker-Polito ticket for Governor and Lt. Governor over Jay Gonzalez and Quentin Palfrey; in Blandford, by 470 to 106; Chester, 447 to 111; Huntington, 681 to 247; Montgomery, 362 to 76, and Russell, 553 to 115.
Attorney Maura Healey did not fare as well in the hilltowns, losing all towns except Huntington, where Healey defeated James R. McMahon, III 518 votes to 417. In Blandford, McMahon received 321 votes to 267 for Healey; Chester, 301 for McMahon to 263 for Healey; Montgomery, McMahon, 231, Healey, 218 and Russell, McMahon 351, Healey, 321. Statewide Healey won 69.9% of the vote to James McMahon’s 30.1%.
Secretary of State William Francis Galvin swept the towns, although some of the races were close. In Blandford, Galvin won by only 7 votes over challenger Anthony M. Amore.
Auditor Suzanne M. Bump also had mixed results in the towns, also losing to all except Huntington who chose Bump over Helen Brady, 421 to 397. In Blandford, Helen Brady received 290 votes to Bump’s 257. Chester also favored Brady over Bump, by 263 to 243. Montgomery chose Brady, 205 to 198 for Bump in another close race, and Russell chose Brady over Bump, 314 to 293. Statewide Suzanne M. Bump won with 62% of the vote.
Treasurer Deborah Goldberg won over Keiko M. Orrall in four of the five towns, although in Chester the victory was by only one vote, 259 to 258. Blandford was the only town to vote for Orrall over Goldberg, with a vote of 291 to 269. Goldberg retained her position as Treasurer statewide with 67% of the vote.
Natalie Blais of Sunderland led the field of seven Democrats in the First Franklin district in the Sept. 4 primary.
The hilltowns were voting in uncontested races for state senators and congressmen, although different towns are represented by different legislators. Blandford supported Senator Adam G. Hinds with 367 votes, and Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli with 387 votes. Chester is also represented by Sen. Hinds, who received 369 votes, and by first-time Rep. Natalie M. Blais, who won a crowded primary for the seat of retiring Rep. Stephen Kulik. Blais received 363 votes in Chester. Huntington is also covered by Hinds and Blais, where Hinds received 644 votes, and Blais, 631 votes.
Montgomery is covered by Sen. Donald F. Humason, Jr., who received 385 votes. Montgomery is the only town in the First Hampshire District covered by first-time Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, who received 290 votes. Russell supported Sen. Humason with 610 votes, and Rep. Pignatelli with 405 votes.
The ballot questions in the hilltowns generally mirrored the statewide vote with a few exceptions. Some towns also had added ballot questions.
Question 1 on limiting nurse to patient ratios was soundly defeated in all five towns. Blandford voted 175 yes, 428 no; Chester, 150 yes, 422 no; Huntington, 297 yes, 644 no; Montgomery, 85 yes, 368 no, and Russell, 148 yes, 540, no.
Question 2, on creating a citizen’s commission to limit the influence of money in elections won all five towns. Blandford voted 355 yes, 242 no; Chester, 339 yes, 222 no; Huntington, 604 yes, 644 no; Montgomery, 255 yes, 194, no, and Russell, 405 yes, 253 no.
Question 3, on transgender anti-discrimination, did not win in all of the towns. Chester supported the question, with 290 yes to 277 no; as did Huntington, with 548 yes votes to 382 no. Voting against the question were Blandford with 288 yes to 305 no; Montgomery, 218 yes, 229 no, and Russell 326 yes, 350 no.
Chester, Huntington and Montgomery also had Question 4 on the ballot, which was a non-binding vote for legislation to create a single-payer system of universal health care that would provide all Massachusetts residents with comprehensive health care coverage. The question was put on the ballot in six western House districts by Western Mass Medicare for All. All three towns supported the question. Chester voted 320 yes, 219 no; Huntington voted 536 yes, 332 no, and Montgomery voted 204 yes, 199 no. Blandford and Russell did not have Question 4 on their ballots.
Montgomery also was the only town to have Question 5 on the ballot, a non-binding vote for ranked-choice voting or “instant runoff” voting, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference in a crowded field. Only two legislative districts had Question 5 on the ballot. Montgomery residents defeated the question, voting 123 yes to 226 no.
Montgomery also had a town-wide ballot question put on at the Special Town Election that would restrict commercial marijuana establishments in the town. The bylaw article passed with 279 in favor of the bylaw and 157 opposed.
