Canton backs Democratic winners; votes no on 1

By Jay Turner

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct a description of ballot question 4 that appeared in Thursday’s print edition. The original story stated that voters elected to repeal the Work and Family Mobility Act, when in actuality they voted to keep the measure in place. The new law, which will enable Massachusetts residents who cannot provide proof of lawful presence in the U.S. to obtain a driver’s license, is set to take effect in July 2023.

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Other than a diverging opinion on the proposed ‘Millionaire’s Tax,” Canton voters largely followed the direction of the state as they backed a number of state and local winners in Tuesday’s midterm election.

More than 10,000 of the town’s registered voters cast a ballot — either via early voting or in person on Election Day — and most races were generally split around 60/40 in favor of the Democrats, with even wider margins of victory for incumbent Secretary of State William F. Galvin and State Treasurer Deb Goldberg.

Local voters were more evenly divided on three of the four ballot questions, as Canton said no to Question 1 — an additional state income tax on those earning over $1 million (54 to 46 percent) — and no to Question 3 on proposed changes to liquor license regulations (58 to 42 percent).

Adoption of a new Millionaire’s Tax proved to be one of the closest races on the ballot, but supporters of the measure ultimately prevailed, with ‘Yes’ voters outnumbering ‘Nos’ by roughly 100,000 votes statewide (52 percent to 48 percent) as of Wednesday afternoon with 92 percent of precincts reporting.

Canton voters did, however, side with the winners on the other three ballot questions, as Massachusetts voters rejected the alcohol regulations, voted to keep in place a recently approved state law that will allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses (Canton voters supported the measure by a margin of 51 to 49 percent), and roundly approved a new law requiring dental insurance carriers to meet a minimum medical loss ratio of 83 percent (Canton approved of the measure by a margin of 71 to 29 percent).

In the major statewide races, local voters contributed to the Democratic sweep as they preferred Governor-elect Maura Healey over Republican Geoff Diehl by a margin of 61.6 percent to 37.8 percent, Attorney General-elect Andrea Campbell over GOP candidate James McMahon (60 to 40 percent), and State Auditor-elect Diana DiZoglio over Republican Anthony Amore (53.5 to 41.2 percent).

Canton voters also strongly backed Congressman Stephen Lynch’s reelection bid in the Massachusetts 8th District, with 67.4 percent opting for the incumbent and 32.6 percent backing GOP newcomer Robert Burke of Milton.

In Canton’s first election as part of the newly redrawn Bristol & Norfolk District, voters also picked a winner: incumbent Paul Feeney (D-Foxboro), who received just over 62 percent of the vote.

Republican Michael Chaisson, who ran a sticker campaign during the primary to get on the November ballot, received 35.7 percent of the vote in Canton while Workers Party candidate Laura Saylor garnered 2 percent of the vote.

Canton voters also backed two other Democratic incumbent winners on Tuesday as they selected Governor’s Councillor Robert Jubinville of Milton over Republican Dashe Videira (65 to 35 percent) and Norfolk County Commissioner Peter Collins, also of Milton, over Independent Matthew Sheehan of Dedham (66 to 34 percent).

Also reelected on Tuesday in uncontested races were longtime incumbent state Rep. Bill Galvin of Canton, Norfolk DA Michael Morrissey, Norfolk Sheriff Patrick McDermott, and Blue Hills School Committee representatives Francis Fistori of Avon, Eric Erskine of Braintree, Thomas Polito of Dedham, and Karen Graves of Randolph.

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