Dufour Wins 18th District GOP Primary With Huge Hometown Support

TEWKSBURY, MA — In his Republican primary win Tuesday against Andover's Shishan Wang, Tewksbury resident Jeff Dufour won in every town in the 18th Essex District, but it was fellow Tewksbury residents that gave him more than half of his total margin.

The 18th Essex District, represented by Andover Democrat Tram Nguyen, includes parts of Andover, Boxford, North Andover and Tewksbury.

In Andover, Wang pulled almost even, winning 46.4 of the town's 1073 votes. In Boxford and North Andover, Dufour won two-thirds of the vote, as he did district-wide.

In Tewksbury, Dufour won over 90 percent of the vote, receiving 502 to Wang's 55.

Dufour, who works in information systems and management, is running for his first elected office. He attributed his win in the primary to his campaign platform, which included opposition to the state police reform bill and support for budget-cutting.

"I believe the voters are responding favorably to my message of supporting the police and working to get our economy rolling," Dufour said. "Although we ran a small grass roots campaign, we were able to connect with many voters throughout the district."

Dufour said he plans to keep "reaching out directly to voters" over the final two months of the campaign.

"The results of the election exceeded my expectations," he said. "I’ve met many voters during the past few months and I’m looking forward to meeting many more between now and the November election."

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