While voters statewide continue to send Democrats back to Boston and Washington D.C. to serve in the State House and the U.S. Congress, Republican voters in Southwick, Granville and Tolland once again demonstrated why this area is considered one of the reddest in the state.
In every contested race on the ballot in Tuesday’s general election, Republicans outpolled Democrats, including in the state Senate race to represent Berkshire County and the westernmost towns of Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties where the GOP candidate didn’t even live in the district.
While state Sen. Paul Mark cruised to an easy victory to represent the state’s largest district over Republican David Rosa, it was Rosa who outpolled Mark in Southwick, Granville and Tolland.
Out of the 5,410 votes cast in Southwick for the Berkshire County senate seat, Rosa got 3,098 votes or 57.2% of the total to Mark’s 2,312 votes or 42.8% of the total.
In Granville, there were 940 votes cast in the senate race, with Rosa getting 542 votes or 57.6% of the total to Mark’s 398 votes or 42.3% of the total.
And in Tolland, out of the 306 votes cast in the race, Rosa again prevailed with 167 votes or 54.5% or the total to Mark’s 139 votes or 45.4% of the total.
State Rep. Nicholas Boldyga, who represents the three towns, was unopposed.
As expected, former President Donald J. Trump easily won the majority of the votes in each town over Vice President Kamala Harris.
In Southwick, Trump picked up 3,428 votes to Harris’ 2,282, in Granville Trump outpolled Harris 593-357, and in Tolland, it was Trump with 174 votes to Harris’ 148.
While incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Richard Neal easily defeated his Republican challenger Nadia Donya Milleron to represent the state 1st District, all three towns gave the nod to Milleron.
In Southwick, she got 2,812 votes to Neal’s 2,138, in Granville, 559-378, and in Tolland, 170-143, respectively.
John Deaton, the Republican challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren who was declared the winner, also prevailed in the three towns.
In Southwick, Deaton got 3,625 votes to Warren’s 2,138, in Granville, 628-341, and in Tolland, 193-132, respectively.
And the GOP trend continued in the Hampden County Register of Deeds race between incumbent Democrat Cheryl Coakley-Rivera and her Republican challenger Bob Collamore.
Coakley-Rivera won the overall race, but Collamore got more votes than her in Southwick and Granville. The two candidates tied in Tolland with 147 votes each.
On the six ballot questions voters were asked to weigh in on, Southwick, Granville and Tolland followed the final outcomes statewide.
On Question 1, which asked voters to provide the state auditor the authority to audit the state Senate and House of Representatives.
All three towns supported the measure, with 3,728 Southwick voters supporting the measure and 1,729 against, 654 Granville voters saying yes to 284 saying no, and in Tolland, 214-95.
On Question 2, which asked voters if they wanted to eliminate the MCAS exam as a high school graduation requirement, Southwick voters supported its elimination 3,448-2,255. In Granville, 616 said yes, with 351 voting no, and in Tolland, 179 said yes with 135 voting no.
On Question 3, which asked voters if they wanted to allow drivers for rideshares, such as Uber and Lyft, to form unions, Southwick 3,065 voters said no to the drivers forming unions, with 2,439 saying yes. In Granville, 494 said no, with 433 voting yes, and in Tolland, 170 said no with 139 voting yes.
On Question 4, which asked voters if they wanted to allow people over the age of 21 in Massachusetts to grow and use psychedelic substances and would create a commission to regulate them, Southwick voted no with 3,518-2,104.
In Granville, 537 said no, with 389 voting yes, and in Tolland, 184 said no with 124 voting yes.
On Question 5, which asked voters if they wanted to boost the minimum wage for tipped workers in Massachusetts to the full state minimum wage over a 5-year period, 4,040 voters said no, with 1,565 saying yes. In Granville, 651 said no, with 273 voting yes, and in Tolland, 194 said no with 110 voting yes.
Question 6 was a non-binding question on a local initiative by the Massachusetts Campaign for Single Payer Health Care, or Mass-Care, an organization that has worked to pass legislation establishing a single-payer system in Massachusetts for the past 15 years, to formally request Boldyga to support single-payer health care.
Voters in Granville and Tolland supported the initiative, with 465-437, and 161-134, respectively.
Southwick voters, however, said no with 2,727 votes and 2,636 saying yes.
There was heavy turnout in all three towns.
In Southwick, 5,873 out of 7,945 registered voters, or 73.9%, cast ballots.
In Granville, 994 out of 1,200 registered voters, or 82.8%, cast ballots.
In Tolland, 330 out of 408 registered voters, or 80.8%, cast ballots.
