Pressley Prevails
Adrien Almost Beats Rep. in Close On
By Josh Resnek
Ayanna Pressley defeated 20 year Congressman Mike Capuano in a stunning upset of the durable Somerville politician.
She becomes the first woman of color to be elected to Congress from Massachusetts.
Her victory was perceived as a changing of the guard.
Capuano outspent her by 2-1 yet she mobilized coalitions in all the major communities in the district to beat the 66-year old Capuano.
Pressley is 44.
Capuano won Everett commandingly but lost in the major suburbs and Boston. He conceded at about 9 p.m. Capuano’s vote in Everett was 2,798 to Pressley’s 1,497. Locally, the rep beat out Gerly Adrien by 1,968 to 1,800 or 168 votes.
It was a surprisingly close victory for the rep.
Smith was never in the race from the announcement of the first results.
He received 893 votes.
Although the vote needs to be studied, it is believed the turnout included the largest vote by minority men and women living in this city in its history.
It was a substantially larger than expected turnout in Everett for the rep race.
The vote total for the race added up to 4,661 – a great deal higher than the expected 3,000-3,500 considered the top vote by political experts around the city.
Several polling place supporters who carried signs all day Tuesday for their various candidates said the show of force by the city’s minority voters was obvious to those standing at the polls – and the results in the rep race prove this.
Also, it is believed that Adrien’s great showing was powered in part by Pressley’s victory wave.
Governor’s Councilor Terrence Kennedy scored a huge vote running unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Kennedy scored 3,281 votes in Everett.
The popular Senator Sal DeDomenico scored the largest vote in the city.
He got 3,698 votes without an opponent.
For DeDomenico it was a real show of force as he did not campaign except for placing a fews ads in the local publications the week before the election.
Both State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg and State Auditor Suzanne Bump scored huge votes here.
It was 2,981 for Goldberg and 2,859 for Bump.
Bill Galvin trounced Boston City Councilor Josh Zakim by 2,942 to 1,029 respectively.
Senator Elizabeth Warren received a large vote her as well – 3.270.