Election Central 2018: Trahan Holds Ever-So-Slight Lead Over Koh

Congresswoman Lori Trahan during an earlier appearance on 97.9 WHAV. (WHAV News file photograph.)

Continually Updated.

 

Update 10 a.m.: The nail-biting results battle continues! Lori Trahan and Dan Koh spent the overnight hours jockeying for the top spot and now, with nearly all precincts reporting, just 139 votes separate the two with Trahan in a slight lead.

Update 1 a.m.: Andover’s Dan Koh is back on top of Democratic balloting as the seesaw race to succeed retiring Congresswoman Niki Tsongas bounces back and forth as returns continue to come in. With 91 percent of the vote counted, Koh was ahead of Westford’s Lori Trahan by less than 1 percent. Koh, former chief of staff to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, and Trahan, once chief of staff to former Congressman Marty Meehan, duked it out during the long election night. As of 1 a.m., fewer than 560 votes separated the newcomers. In third place was Lawrence state Rep. Juana Matias. Matias is a former Haverhill resident.

Just before 10 p.m. Tuesday, Barbara L’Italien of Andover bowed out of the race. In a statement, she told supporters she had “no regrets” about her run, and vowed that she’s “not even close to done making trouble yet.”

The Democratic primary’s winner faces off against Republican Rick Green and Independent Mike Mullen in November in an effort to succeed Niki Tsongas.


UPDATE: 11:45 p.m.: Christina Minicucci of North Andover took the 14th District Democratic seat, triumphing over Lisa Yarid Ferry to represent an area that includes two precincts in Haverhill. Each woman took her home turf—Minicucci in North Andover and Ferry in Methuen—with Minicucci taking Lawrence by one vote.

In Haverhill, Yarid Ferry, who took leave as Mayor James J. Fiorentini’s executive assistant, trailed behind Minicucci by 21 votes. All told, Minicucci earned the Democratic ballot spot in November. She will face off against Republican Ryan Losco of North Andover.

Sen. Barbara L’Italien has bowed out of the race for a 3rd District Democratic congressional seat, telling supporters that she had “no regrets” about her run. “I am so proud of the work collectively all of us have done,” she said. “I’m not even close to done making trouble yet.”

As ballots continue to be counted, WHAV can report that Dan Koh has taken Haverhill, securing victory over Juana Matias and L’Italien.

With 72 percent of the vote from 37 communities in the 3rd District, Lori Trahan holds steady in the top spot with 23 percent of the vote, followed by Koh with 20 percent and Matias with 16.7 percent.

Stay with 97.9 WHAV FM throughout the night as the primary election returns roll in.


UPDATE, 10:10 p.m.: With 24 percent of the state’s precincts reporting, democrat Lori Trahan continues her lead in the democratic race for a spot on the 3rd district ballot in November. Just two weeks ago, pollsters pegged Andover’s Dan Koh as the front-runner, with Trahan in third place. Tied for second place in the UMass Lowell-Boston Globe poll were Concord’s Rufus Gifford and Barbara L’Italien of Andover.

Current results put Koh and L’Italien in third and forth place respectively.

Elsewhere across the Valley, North Andover reported all precincts in just after 10 p.m., with 86 percent of the vote going to hometown state rep candidate Christina Minicuci. She won ballot bragging rights in that neighborhood over Lisa Yarid Ferry.

Stay with 97.9 WHAV FM throughout the night as the primary election returns roll in.


The polls are now closed. If you didn’t get out to vote in your party’s primary, its appears you are far from alone.

Whether it was the rare day-after-a- holiday primary or vacation distractions, turnout appeared light in Haverhill and area communities. With many uncontested races, attention turns to the outcomes for the heavily contested 3rd Congressional District. A crowd of 10 Democratic candidates will be narrowed down to one, who will face off against Republican Rick Green in November. Green faced no opponents from his own party.

The only other local, contested race is in the 14th Essex state representative district. That’s where today’s balloting decides whether Democrats Lisa J. Yarid-Ferry or Christina A. Minicucci advance to face Republican Ryan Losco in November. The rare vacancy is a result of Democratic incumbent Diana Dizoglio deciding to drop the state representative seat for a try at becoming state senator in the 1st Essex District. DiZoglio was also unopposed during the primary, but will face Alexander Williams.

Results are being counted. Stay tuned to 97.9 WHAV FM for Election Central updates.