Brookline 2012 Election: The Analysis

Brookline voted in yesterday's election, and the larger results are well-known by now: Following Yesterday's Barack Obama was re-elected President, Elizabeth Warren won the U.S. senate seat, Joe Kennedy III picked up the fourth congressional district seat and Watertown's Marilyn Pettito Devaney retained her Governor's Council Seat.

However, the (unofficial) numbers released earlier on the town Clerk's website show some interesting things about the town when compared to other election days--specifically the Sept. 6 primaries, and the 2008 Presidential elections.

Races

Of Brookline's 40,373 voters, 28,100 showed up to vote yesterday--about 69.6 percent. A large increase compared to the primaries just two months ago, when less than 15 percent of town turned out. 

In the September primaries, 85 percent of the ballots collected were for the Democratic party, while Republicans cast 13 percent. However, there seemed to be a shift:

• In the Presidential election, Brookline went 78 percent for the Obama-Biden ticket, 21 to Gov. Romney, and 1 percent each to third-party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein.
• Elizabeth Warren captured 73 percent of Brookline's vote, and Scott Brown 26 percent of the votes cast in the Senate race. 
• 78 percent of voters chose Joseph Kennedy III, a little over 17 percent went for Sean Bielat and a little under 2 percent for independent David Rosa. This race also had the highest number of blank votes, around 2.5 percent.

However, it is still a smaller percentage than 2008, when 85.6 percent of the town's 32,684 voters turned out, and Brookline went to Obama by 80 percent. But, looking at sheer numbers, the 28,100 voting population is actually larger than 2008's ballot count of 27,971. Which may be related to an increase by nearly 8,000 registered voters from 32,684 in 2008. 

Ballot Questions

There were three State Ballot Questions--and of them, question two stands out because Brookline's vote and the state's were quite different. Brookline voted 63 percent in favor of prescrption of life-ending medication, with 31 percent opposed to the measure.

Statewide, the question was too close to call even before 8 a.m. on Wednesday, but the proponents ultimately conceded.

Brookline had a few fewer votes for the Right to Repair question. 78 percent voted in favor of Question 1 in town, while 85 percent of Massachusetts voters approved the question according to Boston.com.

Statewide, 63 percent voted in favor of the medical marijuana question, which is not fair off Brookline's vote of 65 percent in favor. Brookline voted against it by 23 percent, and Boston.com also reports that it was 35 percent in the statewide race.