Tewksbury Voters Back Joe Kennedy With Record Turnout Numbers

TEWKSBURY, MA — Tewksbury 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.

Over one-third Tewksbury registered voters cast ballots, with a hotly-watched senate primary and all voters eligible to vote by mail due to the coronavirus. In 2018, just over one-quarter voted, the highest number of any state primary election since 2012.

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Of 23,509 registered voters, 8,038 cast ballots, or 34.2 percent.

Kennedy took 50.8 percent of the 5,892 Democratic primary votes, to Markey's 48.3 percent.

Incumbent Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton won Tewksbury's support, winning nearly three-quarters of the votes against his two challengers.

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On the Republican side, Tewksbury voters supported businessman Kevin O'Connor in the U.S. Senate primary. He took 59.1 percent of the 2,117 votes, against entrepreneur Shiva Ayyadurai.

In the 18th Essex District Republican primary, Tewksbury resident Jeff Dufour took an overwhelming 87 percent of the vote against Andover's Shishan Wang. Dufour will take on Democratic state Rep. Tram Nguyen on Nov. 3.

>>Jeff Dufour Wins 18th Essex District State Rep. GOP Primary

Town Clerk Denise Graffeo said there were no significant issues on election day.

"I am extremely grateful for my team of dedicated office staff and election officials for rising to the challenges presented by the new legislation," Graffeo said. "On to the big one."

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