Nearly 40 Percent Of Waltham Voters Cast Ballots In Primary

WALTHAM, MA — Nearly 40 percent of the 35,223 registered Waltham voters cast ballots in the primaries Sept 1.

Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin predicted near-record voter turnout for Tuesday's primary, thanks to changes in rules during the coronavirus pandemic making it easier for people to vote by mail and allowing early voting in the primary for the first time. Galvin estimated as many as 1.3 million ballots were cast.

Massachusetts primaries have typically seen fewer than 1 million voters, except in 1990 when Democrat John Silber and Republican Bill Weld each won contested gubernatorial primaries. About 1.5 million people voted that year.

In the only statewide race, Sen. Edward Markey defeated Rep. Joseph Kennedy in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Markey will face Kevin O'Connor, an attorney who defeated Shiva Ayyadurai in the Republican primary, in the November general election.

In Waltham the results mirrored the rest of the state: Democratic voters chose Markey over Kennedy, by 7,561 to 4,466. Republican voters chose O'Connor with 969 votes, while only 774 Republican Waltham voters stood behind Ayyadurai.

There were no primaries for the other parties, but 10 people cast ballots for the Green Party and 32 cast ballots for the Libertarian Party in Waltham.

See how the wards voted in the Democratic primary:

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).