Massachusetts

How New England Voted: Election Day Across the Region

Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren defeated two challengers Tuesday in an election that will also decide a slew of congressional races, a gubernatorial contest and whether Massachusetts should keep legal protections for transgender people.

[CLICK HERE FOR LIVE ELECTION RESULTS]

Topping Tuesday's ballot was the Senate race. Republican state Rep. Geoff Diehl and independent candidate Shiva Ayyadurai were hoping to deny Warren a second six-year term.

"When I first ran for the Senate six years ago, I asked you to take a chance on someone who had never even run for office before," Warren said Tuesday night. "You took that chance, you sent me into the fight, and tonight, you told me to stay in the fight."

Decision 2018: Live Election Results

Source: AP
Credit: Sam Hart/NBC

Now that Warren has won, expect attention to quickly turn to the 2020 election. She has promised to take "a hard look" at a possible presidential run.

Warren refused to say Tuesday that the midterm elections in Massachusetts were about President Donald Trump.

"I try to stay focused on the issues, not on division and hate," she said.

She did, however, acknowledge that the Democrats needed allies in Washington to protect and fight for "shared values."

In the race for governor, Republican Charlie Baker won re-election, defeating Democrat Jay Gonzalez.

"Today, the voters have spoken, and it seems like they like what we're doing and the way we go about it," Baker said. "So here's the good news -- that colalborative, purposeful and humble approach to governing is exactly what you're going to get from us and from our team for the next four years, and that's going to be non-stop, pedal to the metal, let it rock!"

There were also three questions on the ballot and five contested U.S. House races.

Democrat Ayanna Pressley sailed through Tuesday's general election unopposed, two months after she unseated 10-term U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano in a national political stunner in the state primary.

"What we are issuing here and now is a mandate for hope," she said Tuesday. "Tonight is just the beginning."

With no Republican in the race, her September victory had all but assured the 44-year-old Pressley the office, with only the remote possibility of a write-in campaign to potentially stop her. That scenario behind her, she'll now represent the 7th congressional district -- the first in Massachusetts where minorities make up a majority of the voting population.

Also winning re-election Tuesday were Attorney General Maura Healey, Secretary of State William Galvin, State Treasurer Deb Goldberg and State Auditor Suzanne Bump.

Several Massachusetts voters said Tuesday they headed to the polls to place a check on the Republican president.

Joe Robinson, a 62-year-old Episcopal priest from Cambridge, said he was driven to vote to combat the "negativity" of the Trump administration.

He voted for Warren and Democratic U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark.

Madeleine Schulman, a writer from Brookline, said she hopes Democrats retake the House to provide a check on Trump, whose rhetoric she called "dangerous."

The 47-year-old Schulman she was disturbed by the confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who faced questions at a Congressional hearing over allegations of sexual misconduct brought by professor Christine Blasey Ford. Kavanaugh denied the allegations.

Here's a look at some of the other big races across New England on Election Day:

NEW HAMPSHIRE

In New Hampshire, Democratic challenger Molly Kelly conceded to Republican incumbent Chris Sununu in the Granite State's gubernatorial race. This will be Sununu's second term as the state's top executive.

Meanwhile, Democrat Annie Kuster won a fourth term in the 2nd Congressional District against Republican state Rep. Steve Negron.

The open 1st Congressional District seat will be filled by Democrat Chris Pappas, who becomes the state's first openly gay congressman, after he defeated Republican Eddie Edwards, who would have been the state's first black member of Congress.

Also in New Hampshire, a woman who moved to the U.S. from Afghanistan has been elected to the 400-member House of Representatives, making her the first former refugee to win a seat in the state Legislature.

Safiya Wazir, a Democrat from Concord, beat Republican Dennis Soucy on Tuesday. She defeated a four-term incumbent in September's Democratic primary.

Wazir was 6 when her family fled the Taliban in 1997, and she spent 10 years in Uzbekistan before moving to Concord. She started high school at age 16, studying the dictionary at night and working jobs at Walmart and Goodwill. She became a U.S. citizen in 2013, and earned a business degree from Concord's community college. She and her husband have two daughters and another baby due in January.

MAINE

Janet Mills made history in Maine after her Republican opponent, businessman Shawn Moody, conceded in the state’s governor’s race to replace outgoing Gov. Paul LePage. The Democratic state attorney general will become Maine’s first woman governor

The most expensive race was in the 2nd Congressional District where Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin faces Democratic state lawmaker Jared Golden. That race was also too close to call.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree in the 1st Congressional District and independent U.S. Sen. Angus King both won their three-way contests.

Pingree claimed victory on Tuesday evening, and one of her opponents, independent Marty Grohman, conceded. King also declared victory, and WCSH projected him winning a second U.S. Senate term. However, the AP has not called either race.

Ranked-choice voting is being used in the federal races. The system lets voters rank all candidates on the ballot. If no one gets a majority, then there are additional rounds of tallies.

RHODE ISLAND

Rhode Island voted Tuesday to re-elect its Democratic governor, senator and representatives.

Gov. Gina Raimondo defeated Allan Fung, the Republican nominee in the 2014 race that first elected her governor. U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse also won a third term after fending off a challenge from Republican Bob Flanders.

Both of Rhode Island's U.S. representatives, Democrats James Langevin and David Cicilline, also held onto their seats, according to NBC News. Republican Patrick Donovan challenged Cicilline in the 1st Congressional District while Langevin beat Republican Salvatore Caiozzo in the 2nd District.

All three questions on Rhode Island's ballot passed. Question 1, approving $250 million to fund the first phase of an ambitious plan to rebuild schools, has passed. Raimondo championed it, asking voters to make a "once-in-a-generation investment to fix our schools" after years of neglect.

Question 2 authorizes $70 million in bonds for higher education facilities. Question 3 adds $47.3 million for environmental, water and recreational projects.

CONNECTICUT

Connecticut voters re-elected Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and were deciding the winner of the state's latest close battle for governor.

Polling leading up to Tuesday's election showed Greenwich Democrat Ned Lamont and Madison Republican Bob Stefanowski in a tight race to fill the seat being vacated by Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. 

The race was too close to call late Tuesday night and the final results may not be known before Wednesday morning, according to Secretary of the State Denise Merrill.

Besides governor, there were battles for other statewide offices and the Legislature. In many cases, Republicans are accusing Democrats of supporting Malloy, while Democrats have accused Republicans of backing President Donald Trump.

VERMONT

Voters in Vermont re-elected their governor, U.S. senator and U.S. representative Tuesday.

According to NBC News, Republican Gov. Phil Scott warded off a challenge from Democrat Christine Hallquist, the first transgender gubernatorial nominee from a major party in U.S. history. Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Rep. Peter Welch also held onto their seats.

Scott, a Republican who was named the fourth most popular governor in the U.S., has worked across the aisle in his time in office. He signed a controversial new gun law in April. And last year, after President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris agreement, Scott issued an executive order to create a climate change action commission.

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats and ran for that party's nomination in the 2016 presidential election, will serve a third term after easily defeating Republican businessman Lawrence Zupan and seven other candidates.

Welch, who replaced Sanders in the House of Representatives, also won his race against Republican challenger Anya Tynio.

All 180 seats in the Vermont Legislature were also on state ballots.

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