Mara Dolan of Concord defeated longtime incumbent Marilyn Petitto Devaney of Watertown in Tuesday’s Democratic District 3 Governor’s Council race.
With no challenger on the Republican side of the ballot for November’s General Election, Dolan appears headed to the Governor’s Council. The Council votes on the Governor’s nominations for judges and nominees for other boards, as well as voting on the Governor’s proposed pardons and commutations of prisoners.
According to results compiled by the Associated Press (AP), Dolan received 52.5 percent of the vote. She received 45,724 votes, while Petitto Devaney received 41,478 votes with 99 percent of the votes reported.
In Watertown, Petitto Devaney received 51.5 percent of the ballots cast with 2,085 votes. Dolan received 1,946 votes and there were 15 write-in votes. Devaney carried the vote in eight of 12 precincts: 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, and 12.
In the only contested race on the Republican side, John Deaton won the nomination for U.S. Senate, with 64.6 percent of the vote statewide, with 92 percent reporting. The lawyer and cryptocurrency advocate will face Democrat Elizabeth Warren in the Nov. 3 General Election.
Deaton received 58 percent of the vote in Watertown, with 356 votes, Antonellis got 205 votes, and Cain received 47 votes. Deaton also led the tally in each of the City’s 12 precincts.
On Tuesday, 4,855 of Watertown’s 26,309 registered voters cast ballots, or 18.4 percent.
See Watertown’s unofficial 2024 State Primary results by clicking here.
Congratulations to Ms. Dolan, a change is FAR overdue!
Tip O’neill one said “all politics is local“. It is disappointing that of 26,308 eligible voters only 4855 showed up to vote and do their civic duty. Benjamin Franklin one said, “it’s a Republic, if you can keep it.” Registering and showing up to vote is the way to keep the Republic on a solid foundation.
On the other hand, it’s about 1000 more than voted in November 2023!
A very positive result after so many years.
Although Marilyn lost this election, she did win in Watertown. It is disturbing that the number of voters is so low. People are given all kinds of options to vote early and use mail-in ballots or vote in person, yet they still don’t exercise this important right to vote. Some people rely on others to represent them in the voting booth if they choose not to show up and do their civic duty. If there were more voters, perhaps the outcome could have been different. Also, many of Marilyn’s flyers never made it to the homes in Watertown and other areas. What’s up with that?
In any case I want to take this time to thank Marilyn for all her, I believe, 44 years of service both as a City Councilor and on the Governor’s Council. She was always dedicated to getting things done and taking care of people in need in any way she could. She should be recognized for that loyalty to Watertown and for giving of her time over all those years of representing us.
We don’t all agree on anything, especially these days, but that is no reason not to be civil to each other and appreciate the good in most people. None of us are perfect. If you see Marilyn around “town”, I would hope you’d express your gratitude to her for her contributions and dedication.
Joan, the fact that the major primary candidates had no opposition does not help turn out. Many candidates will also have no opposition in the General Election. Even if one approves of our elected officials, this should register as a disturbing problem for democracy and civic participation.
Joe, I agree. Many people don’t follow politics and don’t understand that if they don’t participate in the process, they are giving their votes away. Many of them complain later that they are not happy with what is going on in their city or state.
Even if people aren’t happy with the candidate, they can show this by taking a ballot and leaving spaces empty next to any of those names. They can even write in names. If current candidates don’t get as many votes as a percent to total, maybe they’ll realize people aren’t really satisfied with their performance and they are just winning because they are the only name on the ballot.
In MA the Republican Party is not strong and does not find enough people to run as they feel it is a fait accompli that they can’t win and make a difference in such a Democratic run state. Even some Democrats won’t run against an incumbent knowing that it is a difficult process and an expensive one. There are a significant number of unenrolled voters in MA and sometimes they don’t step up to make a difference either.
People seem to be busier than ever these days and don’t feel they have time to take on the rigors of a campaign to represent their areas. We should all take this right to vote seriously before it is lost and do what we can to encourage people to participate in the process.