Medford Voter Turnout: How It Compared To Past Elections

MEDFORD, MA — The municipal election Tuesday sent veteran city councilor Breanna Lungo-Koehn to the mayor's office, unseating incumbent Stephanie Muccini Burke, who was running for her third term. There was no shortage of candidates in the other races – voters elected seven city councilors out of a pool of 14 candidates, and six School Committee members out of a 10-person field.

There appeared to be an even split between Lungo-Koehn and Burke leading up to the election. But despite a competitive mayoral race – only 652 votes separated the candidates – less than 50 percent of the city voted in Tuesday's election.

According to the City Clerk's office, 13,358 out of 38,961 registered voters in Medford participated in the election. That represents a voter turnout of 34.29 percent.

In 2017, when Burke was elected to her second term over David McKillop, 11,432 ballots were cast out of 37,835 registered voters – a turnout of 30.2 percent. That mayoral election was decided by a difference of more than 2,500.

The 2015 election saw the highest turnout over the past four municipal elections at 38.9 percent. Burke was elected mayor over Robert Penta by a margin of 547 votes. However, Medford has gained more than 3,000 new registered voters since 2015.

The 2013 election, in which Michael McGlynn was elected to his final term, saw the lowest participation in recent years: voter turnout was just 26.1 percent, and McGlynn received nearly double the votes of his challenger.

Click here to see how the 2019 Municipal Election broke down by precinct.