Watertown voters came out in huge numbers for the 2020 Presidential Election, and heavily supported Joe Biden and other Democrats on the ballot.
The voter turnout for the Nov. 3 election in Watertown was 76.09 percent, or 19,197 ballots cast. This was slightly higher than the 2016 election when 18,402 votes were cast, or 75.89, in an election which also featured the local ballot question on the Community Preservation Act.
The Biden/Harris ticket got 14,885 votes locally (77.5 percent), while Donald Trump and Mike Pence received 3,795 votes (19.7 percent). Libertarian candidates Jo Jorgensen and Spike Cohen received 207 votes and Green-Rainbow Party candidates Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker got 131. Biden was declared the winner in Massachusetts with 64.5 percent of the votes and 88 percent of the ballots reported.
Ballot Questions
Watertown voters supported Question 1, which asked to give independent auto repair shops access to data and other information, by a margin of nearly 3 to 1. The “yes” vote was 14,152, and the “no” vote was 4,166. Statewide, the “yes” on Question 1 prevailed, getting 75 percent of the vote, with 87 percent of precincts reporting as of Wednesday morning according to the Associated Press.
Question 2, which asked to whether Massachusetts should use ranked-choice voting, was closer with “yes” receiving 11,022 votes and 7,231 people voting “no.” Question 2 was defeated statewide, according to the AP, with 55 percent of voters opposing it.
Voters in Precincts 1-9 (the 29th Middlesex District) had two additional ballot question encouraging the state rep. for the district to support issues.
Question 3 asked the representative to support legislation to “require Massachusetts to achieve 100% renewable energy use within the next two decades.” Seventy-two percent of Watertown voters (10,206) supported the measure, while nearly 17 percent (2,381) opposed it.
The fourth question asked voters if they wanted the representative to support changes the rules of theHouse of Representative to make the results of Legislative committees publicly available on the Legislature’s website. The “yes” side received 11,303 votes (nearly 80 percent), while 1,126 residents voted “no.”
Other Races
Democrat Sen. Ed Markey received 14,904 votes (77.6 percent) and GOP challenger Kevin O’Connor got 3,826 votes (19.9 percent). Markey was declared the winner statewide, receiving 66 percent of the vote with 88 percent of the ballots reported.
Congresswoman Katherine Clark got 14,684 votes (76.5 percent) while Republican Caroline Colarusso got 3,832 votes (20 percent). Districtwide, Clark received 73 percent of the vote, with 85 percent of the precincts reported.
Watertown State Rep. John Lawn won reelection to his 10th Middlesex seat (representing Precincts 10-12) in an uncontested race, and Steve Owens — who also faced no opponent — will be the new State Representative for the 29th Middlesex District (Precincts 1-9). State Sen. Will Brownsberger also won his uncontested race, as did Governor’s Councilor Marilyn Pettito Devaney, who is from Watertown.
See the votes, including precinct-by-precinct results, by clicking here.