Nationally, the big takeaway from yesterday’s midterm election is that the Democrats have won back control of both the House and the Senate.
Here’s how people voted in Lexington.
Of the 23,719 voters in town, 14,286 voted, or 60 percent. That’s down from the last state election in 2024, though that was also a presidential election year. In 2024, 78 percent of registered voters hit the polls, and in 2022, 64 percent voted (though there were fewer total voters — the number of voters this year was about the same as in 2024).
Here’s how some key races played out:
Maura Healey and Kim Driscoll were reelected for their second term as Governor and Lieutenant Governor, respectively, capturing about 63 percent of the state’s vote and 77 percent of Lexington’s. The Healey-Driscoll team beat out Republican candidate, Mike Minogue, who secured 34 percent of the overall vote, and 19 percent of Lexington voters’ support. Minogue was running with a lieutenant governor candidate, Shawn Oliver, but he dropped out of the race a few weeks ago after being arrested for driving under the influence, speeding, and causing a car crash. Minogue decided to run alone.
Ed Markey was reelected to the U.S. Senate for his third six-year term, securing about 64 percent of the vote in Massachusetts and 76 percent of the vote in Lexington. His main opponent, Republican John Deaton, got 32 percent of votes in Massachusetts and 17 percent in Lexington. Support for Deaton is down since he challenged Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the race for U.S. Senate in 2024. Deaton lost to Warren with about 40 percent of the vote in Massachusetts and 23 percent in Lexington.
As for Lexington’s state legislators, all ran unopposed. Sen. Cindy Friedman, Sen. Ken Gordon, Rep. Mike Barrett, and Rep. Michelle Ciccolo were all reelected for their fifth and sixth terms.
Now for the laundry list of ballot questions (tldr; pot, primaries and gun laws all remain unchanged):
Question 1, which asked voters whether Massachusetts should extend the public records law to cover the Legislature and governor’s office, passed. It got 86 percent support in Massachusetts and 84 percent support in Lexington.
Question 2, which asked voters whether workers with the Committee for Public Counsel Services (which offers legal representation to criminal defendants who cannot afford a lawyer) should be able to collectively bargain, passed. It got 64 percent support in Massachusetts and 64 percent support in Lexington.
Question 3, which asked voters whether Massachusetts should replace the existing partisan primary election system with a single “all-party primary,” failed. It got 61 percent “no” votes in Massachusetts and 59 percent in Lexington.
Question 4, which asked voters whether prospective voters should be able to register and cast a ballot on Election Day, passed. It got 57 percent support in Massachusetts and 65 percent support in Lexington.
It appears Question 5, which asked voters whether the formula for calculating the limit on state tax collections should be altered, increasing the likelihood that Massachusetts owes money back to taxpayers at the end of a fiscal year, will fail, but it was too close to call as of 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning when only about 80 percent of votes had been counted. Question 5 had gotten about 53 percent “no” votes in Massachusetts and 57 percent against in Lexington.
Question 6, which asked voters whether money collected from the sales tax of sporting goods purchases should be directed to a state fund for conservation activities, passed. It got 61 percent support in Massachusetts and 58 percent support in Lexington.
Question 7 was too close to call as of 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning with the vote practically split down the middle. The question asked voters if the state should relax zoning regulations for single-family homes in areas served by public water and sewer systems, which could streamline the permitting process to build on smaller lot sizes. It failed in Lexington with about 50 percent “no” votes and 45 percent “yes” votes. 682 Lexington voters left the question blank.
Question 8, which asked voters whether to repeal the law that legalized the sale and use of recreational marijuana, and whether to create civil penalties for the possession of one to two ounces of marijuana, failed. It got 76 percent “no” votes in Massachusetts and 67 percent against in Lexington.
Question 9, which is a veto referendum that asked voters whether to uphold a 2024 state law creating an array of new firearms regulations, passed, meaning the existing strict gun laws will stay in place. It got 68 percent support in Massachusetts and 84 percent support in Lexington.
Your neighbors in precincts 1-5 and 7-9 voted on two extra questions:
Question 10, which asked voters if they would instruct their state rep. to vote in support of legislation that establishes a single-payer healthcare system, passed.
Question 11, which asked voters if they would instruct their state rep. to vote in favor of legislation that would reduce the House Speaker’s and Senate President’s control over state legislators’ extra pay passed.