In 2022 Election, Worcester Was A Little More Blue: Key Takeaways

WORCESTER, MA — In the November 2022 election, voters in Worcester appeared to continue a more progressive trend seen over the last few city elections.

Unofficial vote counts show that Worcester voters rejected the only local incumbent Republican on the ballot, elected Democrats by big margins in statewide and local races, and voted in favor of taxing millionaires and paying a little more on property tax bills to fund community projects.

Here are some key takeaways from the 2022 election:

Worcester County Sheriff

Two-term incumbent Republican Sheriff Lew Evangelidis will almost certainly win another six-year term, with Democratic challenger David Fontaine trailing countywide by about 47,000 votes as of Wednesday morning.

But look at Worcester only, voters rejected Evangelidis, handing Paxton resident Fontaine about 53 percent of the vote. Evangelidis did perform slightly better this year than his first run in 2010 (he didn't face a challenge in 2016), although the 2010 race featured three candidates. Former state police colonel Tom Foley carried Worcester that year with almost 56 percent of the vote.

Tax questions

Worcester voters also said yes to taxes in 2022, even with record inflation rates squeezing lower and moderate-income residents.

Worcester voted in favor of adopting the Community Preservation Act, which will enact a 1-1/2 percent surcharge on property tax bills. The money will be used to fund projects including affordable housing and park and open space improvements. That measure passed with about 52 percent in favor, 48 percent opposed. But that's an improvement over 2018, when the city council voted against even putting CPA on the ballot.

The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce also spent big to oppose the CPA. The organization spent over $41,000 to produce an anti-CPA television spot featuring prominent local businesspeople that ran in the weeks leading up to Nov. 8. But the "yes" effort received its fair share of support, raising close to $50,000.

On statewide Question 1 — the so-called "millionaire's tax" — almost 60 percent of residents voted in favor. That's higher than the statewide count, with about 52 percent in favor.

Culture war rejection?

There were three main legislative races on the ballot in 2022: Democrat Robyn Kennedy vs. unenrolled candidate Lisa Mair; Democrat David LeBoeuf vs. Republican Paul Fullen; and Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern vs. Shrewsbury Republican Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette.

In many ways, Fullen, Mair and Sossa-Paquette represented different culture war issues linked to Republican politics. Mair billed herself as a "medical freedom" candidate and opposed COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates; Fullen, a Worcester firefighter, sought to cast doubt on new methods of voting, vote-by-mail in particular; and Sossa-Paquette, who is openly gay, criticized McGovern for participating in a drag queen storytime event.

If local voters were aware of these culture war issues, it didn't appear to influence their political choices.

McGovern — one of the longest serving members of Congress from Massachusetts — carried his hometown with about 72 percent of the vote. Kennedy won with close to 80 percent of the vote. LeBoeuf, who was hit with attack ads over a drunken driving arrest earlier this year, won with over 63 percent.

Drivers licenses

Immigration enforcement is a top issue for Trump-leaning Republicans, but Worcester voters were in favor of keeping a new state law that allows undocumented residents to apply for drivers licenses. Almost 59 percent of voters chose to keep the law on the statewide Question No. 4 — higher than the statewide margin, with 53 percent voting "yes."

The ballot question was sponsored by the state Republican party, and the "no" campaign (a "no" vote would've repealed the state law) was led by a Milford woman who has appeared at events with Trump on immigration.

Voter turnout

It was lower in Worcester in 2022 compared to the 2018 midterm election, which was slightly more high-profile due to Democratic voters eager to reject then-president Trump. Turnout was about 37 percent this year, compared to 44 percent in 2018. Overall turnout was expected to be lower in Massachusetts this year, Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin said Monday.

Continued trend?

Over the past two elections, including the September primary, Worcester voters appear to have favored more progressive candidates.

In the 2021 municipal election, voters elected Worcester's first nonbinary councilor, Thu Nguyen, and District 5 councilor Etel Haxhiaj, who has championed policies like inclusionary zoning and rent moratoriums during the pandemic. Voters in 2021 also rejected former school committee member Dianna Biancheria, who voted against the district's new sex education curriculum, and candidate Shanel Soucy, who was accused of making anti-gay statements.

In the primary, voters in Worcester handed Kennedy — a first-time candidate — an 8-point victory over Mayor Joseph Petty, who has served as a city councilor since the 1990s, and was heavily involved in the city's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kennedy will take over for Harriette Chandler, who was the first women ever to represent the 1st Worcester District state Senate seat.

Democrats at state level

Worcester voters picked Democrats at the state level by wide margins, with the lowest-performing Democrat — state Auditor-elect Diana DiZoglio — still earning 60 percent of the vote against a Republican challenger backed by Gov. Charlie Baker. Local voters picked gubernatorial-elect team Maura Healey and Kim Driscoll 68 percent to 30 percent. Incumbent Democratic state Treasurer Deb Goldberg earned more than 77 percent of the vote, although her only challenger was a Libertarian candidate with a low statewide profile.