Coakley wins Martha’s Vineyard, loses state in governor’s race

Martha’s Vineyard voters overwhelmingly chose Martha Coakley (D) over Charlie Baker (R) in the governor’s race, 4,457 to 2,469, while the rest of the state propelled Mr. Baker to victory. Ms. Coakley conceded to Mr. Baker Wednesday morning in a race decided by less than 2 percent, or 40,000 votes, statewide.

The local tally represented a slide in popularity for Mr. Baker. Four years ago, when he challenged incumbent governor Deval Patrick, he captured 2,757 Island votes.

In the only contested Island races, voters in Aquinnah, Chilmark, and West Tisbury were asked to elect five people to four-year terms on the Up-Island Regional School Committee. There are two names on the official ballot and four declared write-in candidates.

Jeffrey “Skipper” Manter of West Tisbury (1,364) and Michael Marcus of West Tisbury (1,158), the only candidates whose names appeared on the ballot, won by wide margins.

Write-in candidates Kate DeVane of West Tisbury (409), Robert Lionette of Chilmark (183), and Theresa Manning of Aquinnah (374) received enough write-in votes to be elected. Incumbent Roxanne Ackerman of Aquinnah (90) was last in the vote count.

All seven seats were up for grabs on the Dukes County Commission.

The election ballot listed the names of four candidates, all incumbents, leaving three slots open to write-in candidates. Christine Todd of Oak Bluffs, an incumbent who failed to get on the ballot, and Gretchen Tucker Underwood of Oak Bluffs, a newcomer to Island politics, had announced write-in campaigns. Veteran county commissioner Lenny Jason of Chilmark had not.

In the race for Dukes County Commission, unofficial results show John Alley of West Tisbury (the top vote getter with 4,388 votes), Leon Brathwaite of West Tisbury, Tristan Israel of Tisbury, and David Holway of Edgartown, all on the ballot, won reelection. The two declared write-in candidates, Ms. Todd (290) and Ms. Underwood (138), won enough votes to be seated on the county commission, as did Mr. Jason (252). Ms. Underwood is the only newcomer to the commission.

On Tuesday, voters also made the biennial selection of the nine elected members of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission (MVC). Nine candidates appeared on the official ballot.

Clarence “Trip” Barnes of Tisbury, Christina Brown of Edgartown, Joshua Goldstein of Tisbury, Douglas Sederholm of West Tisbury, and Linda Sibley of West Tisbury were reelected to the MVC. Fred Hancock of Oak Bluffs and James Vercruysse of Aquinnah, MVC appointees seeking to become elected members of the commission, will also now serve in their own right. Abraham Seiman of Oak Bluffs, a retired health care administrator who serves on numerous town boards, and Robert Doyle of Chilmark, a retired substance abuse counselor involved in public health advocacy and addiction counseling, are the only new members.

In a special West Tisbury election tinged with sadness, West Tisbury voters elected a new town moderator to fill the position held for 23 years by Pat Gregory, who was murdered while vacationing in California last May. Dan Waters, development director of the Martha’s Vineyard Museum and a longtime resident of West Tisbury, was the only candidate on the ballot.

In statewide races, Vineyarders generally followed statewide trends. Island voters chose Maura Healey (D) for attorney general over John Miller (R) 5,046 to 2,000.

Deborah Goldberg (D) was the choice of local voters over Michael Heffernan in the race for treasurer, 4,418 to 2,076.

William Keating (D) easily won reelection to Congress, while state senator Dan Wolf (D), and state representative Tim Madden (D), who ran unopposed, will return to the statehouse.

Edward Markey (D) trounced his opponent Brian J. Herr (R) for a U.S. Senate seat by a vote of 5,134 to 1,991.

Michael O’Keefe (R) won reelection as the Cape and Islands district attorney, but Island voters opted for his opponent Richard Barry (D) by a vote of 3,753 to 3,068.

Ballot Questions

Vineyard voters also showed a contrary streak on several referendum questions on the ballot.

On Question 1, statewide, voters decided to eliminate the provision of state law that adjusts the gas tax annually to account for inflation. Vineyarders opted to make no change in the law, by a vote of 3,587 to 3,278.

By a wide margin, voters both statewide and locally defeated Question 2, choosing not to expand the bottle deposits to most bottled water and juice containers. On Martha’s Vineyard the measure was defeated 4,304 to 2,826.

Question 3, a measure to repeal the recently enacted gaming laws that allow casinos in Massachusetts, was rejected statewide. Island voters voted to repeal the casino law, 4,034 to 3,026.

Question 4, a measure that would allow employees to earn paid or unpaid sick time, easily won approval from Massachusetts voters. Locally, voters approved the measure 4,099 to 2,806.

In a non-binding referendum to expand the emergency planning zone around the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant to include all of Barnstable County, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket, Island voters overwhelmingly approved the measure, 4,693 to 1,510.

Preliminary vote totals show 7,340, or about 53 percent, of the Island’s 13,719 registered voters cast ballots in the 2014 elections.

By contrast, in the 2010 election a total of 8,523 of the Island’s 13,314 registered voters, or 64 percent, went to the polls.

2014 Election Results (Updated November 7 at 10am)