How Brookline Voted In The 2018 Midterm Election

BROOKLINE, MA — Despite the rain and dreary weather in town Tuesday, Brookline voters turned up to the polls, braving puddles to perform their civic duty.

Nearly 67 percent of Brookline's registered voters cast their ballots in the midterm election, according to town data. Of the 25,080 voters, 6,040 voted early, town clerk Pat Ward said.

In Tuesday's election Brookline mirrored the state vote when it came to Sen. Elizabeth Warren but not so much when it came to Gov. Charlie Baker who swept the state elsewhere.

Brookline voters overwhelmingly supported Warren who won in Brookline 20,715 to 3,282.

As for Baker? Although the rest of the state wanted the Republican to stick around, all but three precincts (14, 15 and 16) voted overwhelmingly in favor of challenger Jay Gonzales. The final tally in town was 13,221 in favor of Gonzales and only 11,380 in favor of Baker.

So what about the ballot questions?

The most talked about ballot question in the state leading up to the election was the question of whether nurses should be limited as to how many patients they care for. It turned out the Commonwealth - as well as Brookline - was not keen to have government regulate that. In Brookline 17,157 voters said No, to regulations. Some 6,973 people cast ballots saying there should be limits.

>> Read more Election 2018 Ballot Questions: How MA Voted

On Question 2: Should a commission be set up to look into regulating businesses? This passed in the state as it did here — 15,445 to 5,339.

That leads us to Question 3. Should the state keep a 2016 law that added "gender identity" to a list of protected people? In Brookline, 21,554 voters, or 88 percent of those voting chose yes, whereas 2,940 voted no, or 12 percent of voters.

By way of comparison: In Newton 32,351 people or 83 percent of the voters chose yes, and only 6,539 or 16.8 percent voted no. In Waltham 15,271 people, or 72 percent of those who voted chose yes on 3. Some 5,850 or 27.7 percent of voters said no.

Here's a look at the Unofficial Results 2018-11-06 State Election (PDF) in Brookline:

Previously:

Early Voting Off To Slow Start In Brookline

Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff