WESTFIELD – City voters found no long lines at the city’s 12 precinct polling places yesterday as voters cast primary ballots to determine which candidates will face off in the June election of a new U.S. Senator to replace John Kerry who resigned his Senate seat after his confirmation as Secretary of State.
Yesterday’s turnout, in which 2,483 of the city’s 23,725 registered voters cast ballots, is a marked difference from the November presidential election in which 17,880 residents, or 71.34 percent participated. The turnout yesterday was 10.47 percent, about evenly divided between Democrats (54%) and Republicans (46%).
City residents, selecting the Democratic ballot selected Edward J. Markey (749 votes) over Stephen F. Lynch (584 votes) and selected Gabriel E. Gomez (614 votes) over Michael J. Sullivan (432) and Daniel B. Winslow (95) in the GOP primary.
Secretary of State William F. Galvin speculated that low turnout of the state’s registered voters for the U.S. Senate special primary yesterday was partly a result of the Boston Marathon explosions.
“The tragedy of April 15 certainly has people’s minds elsewhere,” Galvin said, adding that voters in the state are not used to spring elections.
Markey and Gomez will now face off in the June 25, 2013 special election to decide who will serve as the junior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, ironically only eight months junior to Sen. Elizabeth Warren who defeated Scott Brown in the November election. The candidates will have to find a vehicle to bring their supporters out for the June special election.
Gabriel E. Gomez, a 47-year-old son of immigrants who became a Navy pilot and SEAL before becoming a private equity investor and who campaigned speaking both English and Spanish will face Markey who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1976.
The Warren/Brown race drew national attention and set new spending records for a Senate race as money would poured into that contest by PACs and both political parties. The question is can the Markey/Gomez campaigns draw the same level of national support as the candidates sprint to the June 25 special election.
