Agawam, West Side voters buck trends in races with locals

Date: 9/15/2022

WESTERN MASS. — Local ties meant more than statewide momentum for many Agawam and West Springfield voters on Sept. 6, as Democrats backed Eric Lesser of Longmeadow, and candidates from Springfield and Agawam, instead of the eventual nominees for lieutenant governor and governor’s councilor, respectively.

Republicans in West Springfield also bucked the Bay State trend. Governor candidates Geoff Diehl and Chris Doughty finished in a tie, 504 votes to 504 votes, a much weaker than average result for Diehl, who won the nomination with about 55 percent of the vote statewide. In Agawam, Diehl led Doughty by a 51-47 margin.

In the only other contested race on Republican ballots, West Springfield again backed the statewide loser, giving Kate Campanale more than 47 percent of the vote, and Leah Allen just under 45 percent. Agawam gave Allen a slight edge, with almost 47 percent of the vote to Campanale’s 46 percent. Allen, who was Diehl’s preferred running mate, won the nomination with 53 percent of the vote statewide.

Democrats didn’t have a contested race for the governor nomination, with Sonia Chang-Diaz ending her campaign although her name continued to appear on ballots. Maura Healey was the overwhelming winner in both local towns and in the state.

For lieutenant governor, Democrats had a three-way race, but both Agawam and West Springfield went heavily for Lesser, who currently serves as a state senator in the Springfield area. Lesser took 78 percent of the vote in Agawam and 74 percent in West Springfield, but only managed to finish second statewide, with Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll taking the nomination. Driscoll was the second choice in Agawam and West Springfield, with 12 percent and 15 percent support, respectively. Acton state Rep. Tami Gouveia finished third both locally and statewide.

Unsuccessful attorney general candidate Shannon Liss-Riordan also found more support in Agawam and West Springfield than she did statewide, taking nearly half the vote in both towns. The statewide winner, Andrea Campbell, polled at 25 percent in Agawam and 28 percent in West Springfield. A third name appeared on the ballot, Quentin Palfrey, taking just over 17 percent in both towns, though he had suspended his campaign before election day.

For the other two state constitutional offices with contested races, Agawam and West Springfield backed the eventual winners. Incumbent William Galvin defeated challenger Tanisha Sullivan for the secretary of state nomination, and Diana DiZoglio bested Christopher Dempsey for the auditor nomination.

In a four-way Democratic race for governor’s councilor, Agawam gave its hometown candidate, Shawn Allyn, almost 54 percent of the vote, and placed Springfield resident Michael Fenton second with 24 percent. West Springfield gave Fenton 39 percent of its support, and Allyn 31 percent. Neither one emerged victorious in District 8, which encompasses most of Western Massachusetts. The nomination ended up going to Tara Jacobs of North Adams, who polled just 7 percent in Agawam and 11 percent in West Springfield. In both Agawam and West Springfield, the fourth-place finisher in the district-wide vote, Jeffrey Morneau of Springfield, finished slightly ahead of Jacobs.

Also on Tuesday’s ballots were several unopposed nominations. Deborah Goldberg was the only Democratic candidate for state treasurer, and there was no Republican nominee. Similarly, incumbent Nicholas Cocchi was the only Democratic nominee for sheriff, and incumbent Anthony Gulluni the only Democratic nominee for district attorney. There is no Republican candidate for either of those county-wide seats.

Incumbent Richard Neal was the only Democratic candidate for representative in Congress, and West Springfield resident Dean Martilli was the only Republican candidate for that seat.

Three Republican statewide nominations were not contested: James McMahon was nominated unopposd for attorney general, Rayla Campbell for secretary of state and Anthony Amore for auditor. For governor’s councilor, John Comerford was the only candidate.

For state Senate, incumbent John Velis was the only Democratic candidate, and Agawam resident Cecilia Calabrese was the only Republican candidate. West Springfield is not currently represented by Velis, but redistricting this year will add it to what is currently his district.

For the state House district covering most of Agawam, incumbent state Rep. Nicholas Boldyga was the only Republican candidate, and challenger Anthony Russo was the only Democrat. For the district covering Precinct 1 of Agawam and all of West Springfield, incumbent Michael Finn was the lone Democratic candidate and there was no Republican candidate.