Braintree Voters Back Joe Kennedy With Record Turnout Numbers

BRAINTREE, MA — Braintree voters put their support behind challenger Rep. Joe Kennedy III in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary Tuesday. Record numbers of voters turned out for the state primary.

Statewide, Kennedy lost to incumbent Sen. Ed Markey.

More than 38 percent of Braintree registered voters cast ballots, with a hotly-watched senate primary and all voters eligible to vote by mail due to the coronavirus. The 10,422 residents who voted in 2020 easily surpassed voter turnout of every election since at least 2010.

>>MA Mail-In Voting Increases Turnout Across Several Communities

Kennedy took 50.3 percent of the 8,327 Democratic primary votes, to Markey's 49.2 percent.

State Rep. Stephen Lynch defeated challenger Robbie Goldstein in the 8th U.S. Congressional District primary. He won the support of Braintree voters 5,916-2,109. Lynch will not face a Republican challenger in November.

State Sen. Walter Timilty also won the Democratic primary for the Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth District. Timilty defeated challenger Jarred Rose with more than 75 percent of the vote in Braintree.

On the Republican side, Braintree voters supported businessman Kevin O'Connor in the U.S. Senate primary. He defeated entrepreneur Shiva Ayyadurai 1,238-746.