Andover Voters Back Markey With Record Turnout Numbers

ANDOVER, MA — Andover voters put their support behind incumbent Sen. Ed Markey in the state primary Tuesday. Record numbers of voters turned out for the state primary.

Over one-third registered voters cast ballots, with a hotly-watched senate primary and all voters eligible to vote by mail due to the coronavirus.

Of 25,409 registered voters, 9,568 cast ballots, or 37.66 percent. In 2018, 7,107 votes were cast.

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Markey took 63.5 percent of the 7,825 Democratic primary votes, to Rep. Joe Kennedy III's 36.4 percent. Incumbent Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton also won Andover's support, winning over three-quarters of the votes against his two challengers.

On the Republican side, Andover voters supported businessman Kevin O'Connor in the U.S. Senate primary. He took 60.4 percent of the 1,664 votes, against entrepreneur Shiva Ayyadurai.

Andover voters backed the winning candidate in all contested races.

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Andover voters also cast ballots in two state representative primaries.

Incumbent Frank Moran won 50.2 percent in the 17th Essex District Democratic primary, just beating out challenger Marianela Rivera. Moran took over three-quarters of the vote in Lawrence, where both candidates live.

Jeffrey Dufour, of Tewksbury, won 53.4 percent in the 18th Essex District Republican primary, against Andover's Shishan Wang. District-wide, Dufour won two-thirds of the vote. He will challenge Democratic state Rep. Tram Nguyen on Nov. 3.

"The election went well because voters made their voices heard in a challenging environment," Town Clerk Austin Simko said. "The new rules surrounding mail-in voting transformed the election by boosting turnout, affecting the method of tabulating ballots, and adding an enormous administrative burden to Town Clerk’s Offices around the Commonwealth."

"I am enormously grateful to the Town Clerk’s Office staff who worked nights and weekends for months to make the election a success," Simko added. "Now, it’s onto November."

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.