The City of Peabody’s unofficial results from Tuesday night showed a slim majority of residents voted in against the winning Republican ticket. Of the 28,491 votes cast for the presidential ticket, 49.9% were cast for Harrs/Waltz and only 47.2% for Trump/Vance. This aligned with the results from the 2020 Presidential Election, but the margin thinned this year from the previous election.
Despite leaning in favor of the Democratic ticket in the presidential election, Peabody voted against the state majority for this year’s Senate race, casting 48.9% for Deaton and only 48.3% for Warren.
Similarly to other communities in the region, residents aligned with the rest of the Commonwealth for four of the five ballot questions, but differed in their opinion of question three, which passed. A ‘yes’ vote received only 44.7% of the votes versus 48.8% of ‘no’ votes.
Democratic incumbent, State Sen. Joan Lovely, beat Republican candidate Damian Anketell for 2nd Essex’s state senator seat.
Lovely won the election with 66.7% of the total votes, Ballotpedia reported.
In Peabody, Lovely received 53.1% of the votes and Anketell, a Peabody resident, received 40%.
“I’m so grateful that people were getting out to exercise their right and privilege to vote. It’s exactly what democracy is all about,” Lovely said.
Her current term is not over yet and she hopes to continue to work on an economic development bill in the next few months, she said.
In the upcoming term, she is looking forward to welcoming and collaborating with the new members of the State Senate, addressing the housing crisis in the district, and continuing to be accessible to constituents, Lovely said.
During her current term, she said she has learned the constituents of the 2nd Essex District share her passion about combating climate change.
“I am so very grateful for the overwhelming support from the constituents of the 2nd Essex District,” Lovely said.
Democratic incumbent, State Rep. Tom Walsh was unopposed for his reelection as the state representative for the 12th Essex District.
“Our priority is always the budget. We’ve had some very good years, so we have to be very careful as we move forward that we can still provide the services and still bring a little bit extra home,” Walsh said of the upcoming term.
Democratic incumbent, State Rep. Sally Kerans was unopposed for her reelection as the state representative for the 12th Essex District.
“We’ve done some very, very good work, and I do credit the house speaker, Ron Mariano, for setting an agenda. We still have some things we’d like to get done,” Kerans said.
“I’m keen to work with my colleagues in the Women’s Caucus. We’ll be looking at our priorities again this year. Economic advancement for women among other things, it’s these umbrella issues like health care access that will continue to occupy my time and attention,” she added.
First-time voter Isabella Rivera said she voted to make a difference.
“We’re the only change,” she said. “It’s our right, it’s a privilege, and I think we should take advantage of our rights.”
“I think it’s important… to express your voice,” Nelly Vitalino said after voting.
