Worcester Primary Results: Gov. Council, Register Of Probate

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester didn't have the excitement of a U.S. House primary, but Tuesday's primary election still had several key local races for voters to decide.

Perhaps the hottest race was for the vacant District 7 slot on the Governor's Council between Paul DePalo and Padraic Rafferty, who both work as attorneys in Worcester. DePalo lost a race for the seat in 2018, but was declared the winner on Tuesday night by the Associated Press.

Rafferty received strong backing from labor unions, plus funding from a PAC affiliated with Republican Gov. Charlie Baker.

There was also a Democratic primary between John Dolan and Kasia Wennerberg for the chance to run for the Worcester County Register of Probate seat held by Republican Stephanie Fattman.

Total voter turnout in Worcester in the primary was about 29 percent, according to the City Clerk. Turnout in the last primary featuring federal offices in 2018 was just above 13 percent.

Here are the results in those two races, according to the Associated Press

District 7 Governor's Council

Padraic Rafferty — 37.59%
Paul DePalo — 62.41%

Worcester County Register of Probate (D)

John Doland — 53.87%
Kasia Wennerberg — 46.13%

Here's how Worcester voted in the Democratic and Republic U.S. Senate primaries:

Ed Markey (i) — 47.95%
Joe Kennedy — 51.86%

Shiva Ayyadurai — 40.06%
Kevin J. O'Connor — 59.23%