Capuano Loses Ground In His Hometown

SOMERVILLE, MA – If there's any community longtime congressman Mike Capuano could count on in his district, it'd be Somerville. Capuano, a Somerville native, led the city from the mayor's office for nine years before representing it as part of the 7th Congressional District for two decades.

There's even a school named after him: the Michael E. Capuano Early Childhood Education Center.

But Capuano's primary victory in his hometown was far from a lock, and unofficial voting results from the city show it almost didn't happen at all. Capuano edged out Ayanna Pressley, who ultimately won the Democratic nomination, 50.30 percent to 49.57 percent.

Pressley, a Boston city councilor, won eight of Somerville's 21 voting precincts, and lost others by a handful of votes:

Capuano conceded Tuesday's race barely 90 minutes after the polls closed. It was a surprise move, considering the two candidates were less than 2,000 votes apart at the time. District totals ultimately confirmed what Capuano already knew: Pressley took 58.9 percent of the vote to Capuano's 41.1 percent.

"This isn't the result we wanted," the 10-term incumbent told supporters. "Apparently the district is just really upset with a lot of things that are going on. I don't blame them."

Though Capuano was backed by some political heavy-hitters, from Rep. Joe Kennedy III to former Gov. Deval Patrick, Pressley had a few hard-hitting endorsements herself, including powerhouse Attorney General Maura Healey and the editorial boards of both the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald.

Pressley effectively wins the 7th Congressional District, as there are no Republican challengers in the November election. She will be the first woman of color elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts.

"I will tell you in this campaign as in every campaign, we've done everything we can do to get this thing done," Capuano told campaign workers. "I will tell you Ayanna Pressley is going to be a good congresswoman and I will tell you that Massachusetts is going to be well served."

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