Surprise Winners and Losers for 2014 Election
Wednesday, November 05, 2014
Now that the dust has settled post-Election DAy, GoLocal deicded to take a look at some of the winners and losers throughout Massachusetts.
Winners
Baker Rides Wave of Momentum to Reclaim Ma’s Top Office for GOP
Although it was long thought that Martha Coakley would be the next Governor of Massachusetts, Republican Charlie Baker took a swell of momentum with him on Election Day to win the Governor’s Race, albeit by a margin of less than 2-percent.
Baker represents the first GOP Governor since Mitt Romney left office in 2007. Many political pundits believe that Baker won because he was able to shrink margins among areas that he and other Republicans have struggled with in the past with urban cities like Worcester playing a massive role.
The Fattmans
Who Would’ve Guessed a Last Name Like That Could Win Big?
Ryan Fattman (R), age 30, won handily against long-time incumbent Richard Moore and Stephanie Fattman ( R), age 26, defeated Stephen Abraham for the Worcester County Register of Probate position. Mr. Fattman beat Moore by over 5,000 votes. Mrs. Fattman won in impressive fashion by nearly 10,000 votes over Abraham.
Ryan Fattman served two terms as State Representative before deciding to take on Moore in South Central Massachusetts. Stephanie Fattman served two years as a law student at Suffolk University. That’s pretty much the same thing.
Between them, they have 15,000 votes that Facebook has yet to tell them about.
Women for Statewide Office
Girl Power! Statewide Elections Dominated By Women
Although women have been touted as a key and fast growing segment of voters in this particular election cycle, at the voting booths was not the only place that women had an impact.
Women dominated the state’s top elections in Massachusetts this year, winning the races for Lt. Governor, Treasurer, State Auditor, and Attorney General. Additionally, a number of female candidates won a variety of Central Massachusetts races, including a few upsets.
Worcester’s Youth Movement
If We Got Any Younger than This, We Would Have Some Explaining to Do
Besides the Fattmans, several young candidates took seats across Worcester County. David Muradian, 31 years of age defeated opponent Marty Green for Worcester’s 9th District State Representative position. Likewise, Kate Campanale, 28, won the 17th District.
In a hot race in the 2nd Worcester District State Representative election, youth is a guaranteed winner. Garret Shetrawksi (R), age 20, lost to incumbent Jonathan Zlotnik, age 24 (D). If Shetrawski had won, he would’ve been the youngest State Representative in the state.
LGBT Community
First Openly Gay AG Healey to Fight For Equality for All Massachusetts Residents
The LGBT community throughout the nation was beyond excited to hear that Democratic candidate for Attorney General Maura Healey was elected to office, representing the first time in United States history that an openly gay person has been elected Attorney General.
Healey has vowed to fight for all residents of Massachusetts by being a staunch advocate for civil rights and legal equality.
Harriet Chandler
If Winning the Senate was this Easy, Everyone would do it... Wait, has Franco conceded yet?
Chandler won by nearly 10,000 votes. At last check, Republican candidate Paul Franco had yet to concede. Her supporters are stressing her “proven leadership” as the primary reason she won. In other words, her record has proven itself. She can literally get things done for Worcester. She’s experienced and she’s been in the position for quite some time.
As Franco’s Campaign Manager Peter Levin said, “It’s going to come down to Worcester.” And it did. Chandler took Worcester by a landslide. For those keeping track, Levin could join the Worcester Youth Movement soon, as he is still a Senior at UMass Amherst and has a bright future ahead of him.
Chandler’s Campaign Manager, David LeBoeuf, eagerly told Go Local “we declare victory.”
Losers
The Silent Treatment Doesn’t Look Good on You
Despite losing to Charlie Baker by an incredibly small margin of votes – with 98-percent of precincts reporting Coakley was losing by less than 2-percent – Coakley seemed to anger and turn off many by choosing to not address the media or give a speech to concede to Baker on Election Night, even though supporters at her victory party were told to go home as media outlets began to call the election.
This is the second time that Coakley has lost a statewide race, the first being against Scott Brown for the special election for State Senator in 2010. In both cases, Coakley was considered the favorite in the beginning but slowly began to lose the advantage as the campaign inched close to Election Day.
Those Against Question #3
Get Out the Chips, There Will Be Casinos
When it came to Question #3, the results weren’t even close in Central Massachusetts. People voted against Casinos in the area by nearly 100,000.
However, across the state, voters decided to not repeal the 2011 law and grant the state three casinos. In the state, the “no” vote won by nearly 20 percent.
Plans will move forward to start building casinos in Springfield, Everett and Plainville.
Nationwide Senate and House Control
Massachusetts Is Blue Over the Rest of the Nation Turning Red
Despite all of the statewide House and Senate seats in Massachusetts remaining blue, the Democrats lost control of the United States Senate and are faced with a widening gap in the House.
Democrats – including President Obama – are bound to be upset for the next two years as the GOP now has definitive control over both houses, giving them more control over which laws are passed.
Former Senator Richard Moore
“A Shallow Experience” Indeed
In a report with GoLocal, now former Senator Richard Moore, made the unfortunate comment that running against up-and-comer Ryan Fattman was “a shallow experience.” Moore even went so far to tell the story of when he first met Fattman,
Last week, Moore told GoLocal, “Years ago, Ryan’s father told me that I was the person that encouraged Ryan to get into politics. I spoke at his high school. For my sake, I just hope I didn’t do my job too well.”
One might consider Moore’s campaign this year as not doing enough. He allowed Fattman to win by an enormous margin. Moore also commented on Fattman’s ambitiousness. Moore said, “The job is something you need to keep working at, you can't always be looking at the next job up the line and worrying about running for that. You don't really deserve to be promoted if you haven't done very much. To me, it sounds like he’s working two terms at each job and then he thinks he’s on his way to the White House.”
Maybe for Fattman, he is.
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