One out of four registered Charlestown voters turned out for this Primary
By Will Collette
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| Tina lands the Big One |
Out of a total of 7,207 registered
voters, 1,746 cast ballots in either the Democratic or Republican primary. Democratic
turnout in Charlestown topped Republicans by roughly four to one to decide some hotly
contested races, including House District 36, Governor and US House District 2.
The numbers allow some insights into Charlestown voters’
thinking. In the Democratic primary for Governor, Charlestown didn’t give
Helena Foulkes the same margin she won in the rest of the state,
picking her over Dan McKee by 57% to McKee’s 43% compared to Foulkes’ 24%
statewide landslide.
Charlestown Republicans went for the more radical uber-MAGA nut
Elaine Pellino over LORIB-adjacent Aaron Guckian. Current statewide numbers
currently show Guckian up by a razor thin margin.
But more interesting to me is that only 307 Charlestown Republican
voters cast ballots in the Primary compared to 1,357 Democrats. There were
enough important primary matchups to offer registered voters from both parties'
strong incentives to vote.
The almost 5 to 1 turnout edge for Democrats could mean good things for the Democratic
slate for Charlestown Town Council, with three votes constituting a controlling majority.
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| Endorsed Democrats running for Charlestown Town Council: Council President Deb Carney, Cynthia Drummond and Cynthia Fonnemann |
The most meaningful local race for Charlestown was the
Democratic primary for House District 36, the seat held with distinction by
Rep. Tina Spears, campaigning for a third term.
She was challenged League of RI Businesses (LORIB)-backed Leah Boisclair who makes her living by defending clients charged with sex crimes. She had lots of campaign
signs out but that didn’t translate into votes.
Tina trounced Boisclair in Charlestown by a margin of 82% to
18%, roughly the same margin as the rest of District 36. With no opponent in
November, congratulations to Tina for winning a third term.
And Boisclair can now turn her full attention back to representing guys charged with pedophilia, baby rape and domestic violence.
For November, we still have some important races that will
be decided by the voters, this time with independents – the majority of the
electorate – in the mix.
For the southern half of Charlestown, our great state
Senator Victoria Gu is seeking a third-term and will face LORIB-backed
challenger Westin Place, a MAGA guy she has beaten twice already.
Neither faced a primary challenger, but it’s worth noting
that their party base voters cast ballots for them. Victoria scored 591 Charlestown
Democrats’ votes, compared to Place’s meager 137 Republican votes. The vote
counts are still lopsided when you look at the totals for all of Senate
District 38.
2,884 Democrats voted for incumbent Victoria Gu while only
708 Republicans voted for Westin Place. Ouch.
Looks like Westin Place is heading toward Strike Three.
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| Samantha "Sam" Wilcox. Go, Sam Go! |
Neither faced a primary challenger but nevertheless, their
primary vote counts are worth noting. In Charlestown, Sam won 553 Democratic
votes compared to Morgan’s 145 Republicans. Historically, Charlestown has
usually backed Morgan’s Democratic opponent since she won the seat in 2016.
However, if you look at the comparison between Wilcox’s and Morgan’s total vote count for the whole district, Morgan might be in trouble.
Even though she is backed by LORIB, her base of Republican primary voters only totaled
1,114 compared to the 2,732 Senate District 34 Democratic voters who turned out
for Sam.
Going into the November 3 General Election with almost a 3
to 1 advantage in base voters is a good sign for Sam in a year that promises to
be a big one for Democrats and a bad one for Republican incumbents.
Primary results are in no way foolproof predictors for the
General Election where the majority of the electorate are independent voters. However,
virtually every national poll shows independents moving sharply away from
Republicans and toward Democrats whose base turned out in impressive numbers for this Primary.
Fingers crossed that Trump doesn’t cancel the November
elections and that we win.
