Unofficial Results Show Donato Winning Malden/Medford Democratic Rep. Race

MALDEN, MA — A close race for the Democratic nomination in the 35th Middlesex state representative district in Malden and Medford appeared to reach its conclusion on Wednesday with unofficial results from the Malden and Medford city clerks showing a 50.5% - 49.5% win for incumbent Paul Donato over challenger Nichole Mossalam.

Just 62 votes separated the candidates. Though 100% of voted has been counted as of 1 p.m, the Associated Press (AP) had not officially called the race.

Donato thanked voters in an interview with Patch early Wednesday afternoon, congratulating Mossalam on a campaign that came down to the wire in the district.

"She did what she said she was going to do and it resonated with constituents," Donato said.

Medford reported voting results first on Tuesday, showing Donato with a 200-vote advantage in voting there. Mossalam then nearly erased the gap in Malden, beating Donato with 935 votes to his 797.

With no Republican candidates on the ballot in the 35th Middlesex district, the winner of this week's primary is on track to win a seat in the State Legislature later this year.

Two decades after first winning his way into the state legislature, Donato faced criticism from Mossalam and some voters during this primary campaign over his past stances on issues ranging from abortion to LGBTQ+ rights.

Donato addressed those complaints before the election and again on Wednesday in his post-election comments.

"The district has changed and I’m changing with the district to make sure that I hear their voices and that they’re we’ll represented," he said.

Moving forward, Donato said he now has his eyes set on what he said would be benefits of the state's proposed "millionaires tax." Set to appear as a ballot question in November, the initiative would add an extra 4% tax on Massachusetts residents earning more than $1 million per year.

Donato said the money could benefit education and transportation causes, noting ongoing teacher shortages, issues with the MBTA and crumbling bridge infrastructure, among other things.

"We still need to do more," he said of current state education spending.

"We’ve got to face a major problem in transportation," he added.

Outside of local races, contested statewide Democratic races in this week's election included battles for Attorney General, Auditor, Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State. There were also contested Republican races for Governor and Lieutenant Governor.

Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Maura Healey technically had a primary opponent on the ballot in Sonia Chang-Diaz. Chang-Diaz dropped out of the race earlier this year, though, leaving Healey effectively unopposed. The AP called the Democratic governor's race in favor of Healey shortly after polls closed on Tuesday.

The AP then called the Republican race in favor of Geoff Diehl later on Tuesday night, with Diehl edging out competitor Chris Doughty to set up a general election race with Healey.

William Galvin won the Democratic Secretary of State race to face Republican Rayla Campbell in the general election in November, the AP said.

Andrea Campbell then emerged as the declared winner in the Democratic Attorney General race, according to the AP. She will face Republican James McMahon, III in November.

Kimberly Driscoll was declared the winner of a three-way race for the Democratic Lieutenant Governor nomination. That sets her up to face Leah Allen, who was called as the winner of the Republican Lieutenant Governor's race on Wednesday morning.

The AP also called Diana DiZoglio's State Auditor race with Chris Dempsey early Wednesday morning in favor of DiZoglio. She will face Republican Anthony Amore in the general election.