Ashe gave a thumbs-up while canvassing in Longmeadow on Election Day.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen
LONGMEADOW — State Rep. Brian Ashe will officially hold his seat in the 2nd Hampden District for a 10th consecutive term after overcoming Republican candidate Peter Warren.
Ashe will continue to serve Longmeadow and Hampden with parts of East Longmeadow, Monson and Springfield.
Unofficial election results show Ashe overcoming Warren across the district by a tally of 11,138-6,392.
Ashe narrowly secured Monson and Hampden, beating Warren 1,409-1,202 and 1,271-1,116 respectively.
He won Longmeadow and East Longmeadow by wider margins. Unofficial election results show Ashe winning 5,166-1,965 in Longmeadow and 3,292-2,109 in East Longmeadow. According to Springfield’s election results, Ashe secured a 1,065-406 victory.
A crowd of supporters, town officials and elected officials joined Ashe to watch results come in at East Longmeadow’s East Village Tavern, but most unofficial results across the district weren’t conclusive until the morning of Nov. 4.
As early tallies slowly trickled in, Ashe discussed his day of canvassing around his district.
Ashe said his time in Longmeadow showed a nonstop slew of voters and he had heard reports of record turnouts across the district. He compared the feeling to a presidential election.
Longmeadow’s unofficial results were some of the earliest numbers to reach Ashe, as a phone call near 10 p.m. informed him he achieved 72% of the vote.
The town is Ashe’s biggest in the district and he expressed confidence toward the night’s remaining results.
Longmeadow Select Board Chair Dan Zwirko came to the election party in support of Ashe.
He told Reminder Publishing he was Ashe’s first legislative aide and has known and worked alongside him for over 15 years.
“It’s been great to work with Brian because he’s so accessible if the town of Longmeadow needs anything,” Zwirko said. “He’s so accessible, I can get ahold of him and anything the town needs, Brian is very reliable. It’s been a great partnership and I look forward to continuing it.”
State Sen. Jake Oliveira, who ran unopposed, told Reminder Publishing he’s known Ashe for over 20 years and working alongside him has been a privilege.
“When I was a teenager, I volunteered for his campaign,” Oliveira said. “Brian is just pleasant to work with. He’s someone who fights hard for his district. He’s someone who shows up and you can rely on him to be someone who’s gonna fight hard for his communities. I’m just so happy as the numbers are coming in tonight to see that he’s coming back and getting reelected. I’m looking forward to the next two years to be working in partnership with him.”
Ashe told Reminder Publishing he never takes anything for granted and even when he feels confident, he waits to see the numbers to believe a win.
“You never know how people really feel before they cast their votes, but I always try to do the right thing everyday,” Ashe said. “I think if I do my job well day in and day out, that’s the best campaign you can do.”
He said he “appreciates his voters so much” and the only time he can see what people think of him in large numbers is when there’s an election.
“The Longmeadow numbers came in overwhelmingly for me,” Ashe said. “It just fills my heart with joy when you see something like that, that people do appreciate the job I’m doing and they notice it. You don’t get calls everyday thanking you, but at heart, people know what you’re doing.”
Warren told Reminder Publishing soon after polls opened that he also had plans to canvas throughout the district during the day.
This was Warren’s first state election and he thanked everybody who had supported him during his campaign.
“I want to thank everybody that took the time out of their day to share a conversation with me,” Warren said. “Way more than I expected were so meaningful, and I would say I got more out of it than they did … It’s been an enjoyable experience.”
