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Date: 11/16/2022
HILLTOWNS – The Hilltowns largely skewed Republican in the Nov. 8 state election, despite the statewide totals favoring Democrats.
In unofficial results as of Nov. 11, Blandford, Chester, Huntington, Montgomery, Russell and Tolland all favored Geoff Diehl for governor and Leah Allen for lieutenant governor, joining Westfield and Southwick in bucking the state’s two-thirds majority for Maura Healey and Kimberley Driscoll. There were also votes cast for Libertarian candidates Kevin Reed and Peter Everett.
The town of Otis voted largely Democratic with the state majority. Granville had not yet announced its results as The Pennysaver went to press.
In Blandford, Diehl received 358 votes to Healey’s 234, with Reed garnering 26 votes. In Chester, the vote was Diehl 328, Healey 202 and Reed 20; in Huntington, Diehl 457, Healey 398 and Reed 14; in Montgomery, Diehl 256, Healey 189 and Reed 2; in Russell, Diehl 368, Healey 251 and Reed 14; in Tolland, Diehl 144, Healey 94 and Reed 5. In Otis, Healey came out on top with 422 votes cast to Diehl’s 323, and Reed’s 17.
For attorney general, Democrat Andrea Campbell was the statewide winner with 60.6 percent of the vote. In the Hilltowns, however, Republican James McMahon received the majority of votes in Blandford, Chester, Huntington, Montgomery, Russell and Tolland. Otis sided with the state election results by favoring Campbell.
Democratic incumbent Secretary of State William Galvin won the statewide vote with 67.5 percent, compared with 29.6 percent for Republican Rayla Campbell and just under 3 percent for Green-Rainbow Party candidate Juan Sanchez. He was also the winner in Huntington, where he received 442 votes to 392 for Campbell and 34 for Sanchez, and in Otis, which voted Galvin 454, Campbell 292 and Sanchez 10. But Galvin lost the election in the towns of Blandford, Chester, Montgomery, Russell and Tolland, with Campbell as voters’ top choice.
For state treasurer, Democratic incumbent Deborah Goldberg received 76.5 percent of the vote statewide against Libertarian Cristina Crawford. She also won in all of the Hilltowns that reported.
In a five-way statewide race for auditor, Democrat Diana DiZoglio took almost 55 percent of the vote, with Republican Anthony Amore at 38 percent, and Green-Rainbow Party candidate Gloria Caballero-Roca, Workers Party candidate Dominic Giannone and Libertarian Daniel Riek all between 2 and 3 percent.
Amore was the clear winner in Blandford, Chester, Huntington, Montgomery, Russell and Tolland, and lost by a slim margin in Otis, which voted 355 for DiZoglio and 326 for Amore.
Question 1, the proposal to add a 4 percent additional tax on incomes over $1 million, passed narrowly statewide, with 52 percent voting “yes.” Otis was the only reporting Hilltown to vote in favor of the question, 392 to 341. In Blandford, Question 1 was defeated 377 to 230; Chester defeated it 321 to 215; Huntington, 451 to 420; Montgomery, 266 to 173; Russell, 374 to 247; and Tolland, 134 to 106.
Question 2 received the only across-the-board “yes” vote in the Hilltowns, matching statewide voters who largely agreed with a proposed cap on what percentage of dental insurance premiums can be used on administrative expenses, giving it a 71 percent “yes” vote statewide.
On the flip side, Question 3, a proposal to change the limits on how many liquor retail licenses a company can hold, was defeated statewide with 55 percent voting “no,” and also received negative votes in all of the Hilltowns.
For Question 4, Massachusetts voters agreed to uphold a state law that allows people without legal residency status to receive driver’s licenses, with nearly 54 percent voting “yes.” None of the reporting Hilltowns voted yes to this question, which lost in Otis with a negative vote of 382 to 353, and by much larger margins in the rest of the reporting Hilltowns.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, a Democrat, took 61.3 percent of the vote in his district, which includes all the Hilltowns. But Blandford favored Republican challenger Dean Martilli, 357 to 253, as did Chester, 303 to 236; Huntington, 440 to 417; Montgomery, 237 to 204; Russell, 345 to 282; and Tolland, 140 to 105. Otis, by contrast, voted 435 for Neal and 316 for Martilli.
For the Governor’s Council, in an open-seat election in a district covering most of Western Massachusetts, Democrat Tara Jacobs polled 61.5 percent to defeat Republican John Comerford. Jacobs also defeated Comerford in Otis, 411 to 327, but Comerford came out on top in Blandford, Chester, Huntington, Montgomery, Russell and Tolland.
Incumbent Democratic state Sen. John Velis took 65.5 percent of the vote to win reelection over Republican challenger Cecilia Calabrese. The district includes Montgomery, which supported Velis on a vote of 244-198, and Russell, which also voted for Velis, 360-271.
The Hilltowns of Blandford, Chester, Huntington, Otis, Russell, and Tolland are all included in the state Senate district ranging from Southwick to the New York state line, where Democrat Paul Mark (76 percent) defeated independent candidate Brendan Phair in the unofficial results. Mark also won the vote in all of the reporting Hilltowns.
Blandford, Chester, Huntington, Russell and Tolland all voted for Republican state Rep. Nicholas Boldyga over Democratic challenger Anthony Russo, some for the first time, as what was formerly an Agawam-Southwick-Granville district was redrawn to include additional Hilltowns this year. Blandford favored Boldyga with 368 votes to Russo’s 241; Chester voted 345-195; Huntington, 482-380; Montgomery, 270-165; Russell 402-224; and Tolland, 163-81.
Otis helped to return Democratic incumbent state Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli to office with a vote of 550 for Pignatelli to 99 for Green-Rainbow Party candidate Michael Silvio.