Needham's Double-Election Goes for Markey, Cooley

Two elections for Needham; the results for one were close, the other less so.

In addition to the votes residents cast for their choice of state senator to replace Secretary of State John Kerry, there was one candidate to the Selectman's seat vacated by the passing of Jerry Wasserman. Marianne Cooley picked up the vast majority of the votes, with Needhamites writing in candidates about 400 times. 

There were three names on the ballot for Senate: Republican Gabriel Gomez, Democrat Ed Markey and Twelve Visions Party Richard Heos.

Of them, Markey won the election with 4530 votes, although Gomez picked up 3695--a difference of less than 1000 votes. Heos scored 12 votes, and there were 15 write-ins

Of the over 20,000 voters in town, about 8,250 turned out. That is about 40 percent of the voters which, despite the Secretary of State's concern about turnout in the next week's Special Election, is about what the Town Clerk's office anticipated.