Massachusetts 10 Months and 2 or 3 Candidates Later

For Massachusetts, 2010 was an interesting year in politics to say the least. In January, Republican Scott Brown came out of nowhere to beat the sitting Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley in a special election for U.S. Senate.

In November, sitting Democratic Governor Deval Patrick won reelection against a well-financed Charlie Baker, helped along in part by an independent challenge from former Democrat Tim Cahill.

It is striking in looking at the margins of victory that Democrats picked up 255,881 votes against the Republicans in just 10 months. Tim Cahil only got 183,933 votes, probably not all from Scott Brown voters, so that is only part of the story.

Looking at the net votes the Democrats picked up from January to November by city and town, the big cities made the most difference. The 47 of 351 cities and towns with the top pickup for Democrats represesented 50% of the pickup but only 39% of the total vote.

Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Quincy, Brockton, Plymouth, Lowell, New Bedford, Weymouth, Lynn, Barnstable, Framingham, Fall River, and Haverhill were all at the top of the pickup list. The large Democratic-voting cities of Newton, Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline, Peabody, Arlington, Medford were solid for both Coakley and Patrick.

Yes, Democrats picked up votes in Weymouth where Charlie Baker meant nothing in Scott Brown's hometown. And Democrats were helped quite a bit in Quincy, Tim Cahill's hometown. But the return of voters to the Democrats in all the big cities is the other part of the story.

City or Town	Net Dem Pickup	Cumulative
Boston	17,600	6.88%
Worcester	9,492	10.59%
Weymouth	5,327	12.67%
Springfield	5,222	14.71%
New Bedford	5,107	16.71%
Quincy	4,486	18.46%
Plymouth	3,724	19.91%
Fall River	3,354	21.23%
Dartmouth	2,918	22.37%
Lowell	2,839	23.48%
Lawrence	2,824	24.58%
Lynn	2,623	25.60%
Brockton	2,593	26.62%
Taunton	2,531	27.61%
Barnstable	2,400	28.54%
Braintree	2,336	29.46%
Peabody	2,257	30.34%
Milton	2,194	31.20%
Holyoke	2,118	32.02%
Westfield	2,107	32.85%
Franklin	2,091	33.67%
Haverhill	2,002	34.45%
Attleboro	1,946	35.21%
North Attleborough	1,933	35.96%
Chicopee	1,876	36.70%
Falmouth	1,817	37.41%
Leominster	1,815	38.12%
Walpole	1,747	38.80%
Marshfield	1,708	39.47%
Agawam	1,705	40.13%
Waltham	1,651	40.78%
Holden	1,645	41.42%
Fitchburg	1,636	42.06%
Beverly	1,630	42.70%
Shrewsbury	1,625	43.33%
Dracut	1,615	43.96%
Bridgewater	1,614	44.59%
Methuen	1,552	45.20%
West Springfield	1,536	45.80%
Pittsfield	1,523	46.40%
Fairhaven	1,515	46.99%
Yarmouth	1,504	47.58%
Framingham	1,487	48.16%
Billerica	1,457	48.73%
Sandwich	1,420	49.28%
Middleborough	1,408	49.83%
Chelmsford	1,408	50.38%
Norwood	1,402	50.93%
East Longmeadow	1,345	51.46%
Wareham	1,327	51.97%
Hingham	1,291	52.48%
Marlborough	1,254	52.97%
Pembroke	1,244	53.45%
Wilmington	1,237	53.94%
Rockland	1,216	54.41%
Scituate	1,214	54.89%
Hanover	1,210	55.36%
Tewksbury	1,200	55.83%
Canton	1,175	56.29%
Dedham	1,173	56.75%
Mansfield	1,160	57.20%
Salem	1,159	57.65%
Woburn	1,156	58.11%
Longmeadow	1,151	58.56%
Auburn	1,141	59.00%
Danvers	1,122	59.44%
Revere	1,115	59.88%
Bourne	1,102	60.31%
Wrentham	1,091	60.73%
Acushnet	1,085	61.16%
Arlington	1,080	61.58%
Stoughton	1,069	62.00%
Wilbraham	1,043	62.40%
Somerset	1,032	62.81%
Easton	1,028	63.21%
Cambridge	991	63.60%
Abington	984	63.98%
Millbury	972	64.36%
Clinton	956	64.73%
Ludlow	952	65.11%
Milford	947	65.48%
Burlington	941	65.84%
Newton	939	66.21%
Dennis	927	66.57%
Foxborough	919	66.93%
Swansea	918	67.29%
East Bridgewater	917	67.65%
Harwich	906	68.00%
Kingston	879	68.35%
Grafton	878	68.69%
Whitman	875	69.03%
Everett	872	69.37%
South Hadley	868	69.71%
Hanson	857	70.05%
Westport	855	70.38%
Chelsea	847	70.71%
Gloucester	817	71.03%
Mashpee	816	71.35%
Leicester	796	71.66%
Charlton	795	71.97%
Southbridge	790	72.28%
Hull	786	72.59%
Norton	786	72.90%
Randolph	781	73.20%
Andover	781	73.51%
Northbridge	779	73.81%
North Andover	778	74.11%
Freetown	774	74.42%
Duxbury	760	74.71%
Newburyport	755	75.01%
Webster	752	75.30%
Medway	749	75.60%
Bellingham	747	75.89%
Gardner	745	76.18%
Seekonk	737	76.47%
Sutton	736	76.75%
Northborough	735	77.04%
Oxford	732	77.33%
North Reading	718	77.61%
Uxbridge	705	77.88%
Greenfield	703	78.16%
Athol	701	78.43%
Spencer	691	78.70%
Lakeville	687	78.97%
Watertown	677	79.24%
Norwell	676	79.50%
Westford	666	79.76%
Carver	657	80.02%
Raynham	654	80.27%
Rutland	633	80.52%
Natick	633	80.77%
Amesbury	620	81.01%
Palmer	617	81.25%
Lunenburg	615	81.49%
West Boylston	609	81.73%
Hudson	609	81.97%
Dudley	601	82.20%
Rehoboth	601	82.44%
Stoneham	600	82.67%
Ipswich	598	82.90%
Westborough	594	83.14%
Medford	594	83.37%
Mattapoisett	590	83.60%
Westwood	558	83.82%
Plainville	556	84.04%
Norfolk	545	84.25%
Somerville	540	84.46%
Needham	538	84.67%
Winthrop	535	84.88%
Belchertown	532	85.09%
Ware	530	85.29%
Salisbury	524	85.50%
Sturbridge	521	85.70%
Brewster	520	85.91%
Millis	513	86.11%
Douglas	510	86.30%
Southwick	508	86.50%
Blackstone	506	86.70%
Nantucket	501	86.90%
Rochester	497	87.09%
Orange	493	87.28%
Templeton	492	87.48%
Tyngsborough	486	87.67%
Dighton	480	87.85%
Halifax	473	88.04%
Medfield	473	88.22%
Melrose	472	88.41%
Pepperell	464	88.59%
Reading	457	88.77%
Wellesley	455	88.95%
Sterling	450	89.12%
Sharon	450	89.30%
Westminster	444	89.47%
Holbrook	441	89.64%
Townsend	438	89.81%
Belmont	438	89.99%
Ashland	436	90.16%
Paxton	430	90.32%
Hopkinton	422	90.49%
West Bridgewater	416	90.65%
Cohasset	403	90.81%
Hamilton	393	90.96%
Orleans	392	91.12%
Chatham	385	91.27%
Lexington	377	91.41%
Acton	367	91.56%
Dalton	362	91.70%
Winchendon	361	91.84%
Monson	361	91.98%
Granby	360	92.12%
Winchester	353	92.26%
Berkley	350	92.40%
Newbury	348	92.53%
Lancaster	345	92.67%
Wakefield	342	92.80%
Hampden	341	92.93%
Lenox	340	93.07%
Boylston	339	93.20%
Holliston	339	93.33%
North Brookfield	337	93.46%
Marion	336	93.59%
Ashburnham	326	93.72%
Montague	324	93.85%
Southampton	324	93.98%
Malden	324	94.10%
Barre	323	94.23%
Rockport	323	94.35%
Maynard	314	94.48%
Easthampton	313	94.60%
Lynnfield	306	94.72%
Boxford	304	94.84%
Groveland	295	94.95%
Littleton	291	95.07%
Hubbardston	285	95.18%
Lee	284	95.29%
Georgetown	278	95.40%
Eastham	277	95.51%
Shirley	275	95.61%
Upton	263	95.72%
Merrimac	259	95.82%
Middleton	256	95.92%
West Brookfield	255	96.02%
Saugus	255	96.12%
Ayer	254	96.22%
Rowley	254	96.32%
Avon	248	96.41%
Stow	246	96.51%
Hopedale	243	96.60%
Hadley	242	96.70%
Southborough	237	96.79%
Bedford	236	96.88%
Warren	233	96.97%
Deerfield	227	97.06%
Ashby	224	97.15%
Provincetown	212	97.23%
West Newbury	209	97.31%
Wayland	203	97.39%
Plympton	197	97.47%
Dunstable	186	97.54%
Mendon	185	97.62%
Richmond	184	97.69%
Lanesborough	182	97.76%
Groton	181	97.83%
Adams	179	97.90%
Oakham	176	97.97%
Bernardston	173	98.04%
Hardwick	165	98.10%
Essex	163	98.16%
Millville	156	98.23%
Princeton	156	98.29%
Brookfield	141	98.34%
Williamstown	140	98.40%
Sunderland	138	98.45%
East Brookfield	136	98.50%
Sheffield	134	98.56%
Wellfleet	133	98.61%
Hatfield	129	98.66%
Berlin	125	98.71%
Northfield	122	98.75%
Truro	117	98.80%
Westhampton	116	98.85%
Bolton	114	98.89%
Harvard	113	98.93%
West Stockbridge	111	98.98%
Wenham	111	99.02%
Topsfield	110	99.06%
Hinsdale	108	99.11%
Great Barrington	108	99.15%
Granville	107	99.19%
Phillipston	105	99.23%
Royalston	101	99.27%
Sherborn	101	99.31%
Manchester	101	99.35%
Holland	100	99.39%
Otis	99	99.43%
Cheshire	96	99.46%
Huntington	91	99.50%
Weston	89	99.54%
Wales	86	99.57%
Russell	83	99.60%
Stockbridge	82	99.63%
Sandisfield	74	99.66%
Buckland	72	99.69%
Whately	71	99.72%
Erving	70	99.75%
Colrain	67	99.77%
Gill	65	99.80%
Brimfield	65	99.82%
Dover	65	99.85%
Shelburne	64	99.87%
Charlemont	63	99.90%
Carlisle	62	99.92%
Egremont	60	99.95%
New Salem	60	99.97%
Blandford	60	99.99%
Worthington	59	100.02%
New Braintree	58	100.04%
New Marlborough	55	100.06%
Middlefield	53	100.08%
Tolland	53	100.10%
Alford	52	100.12%
Sudbury	51	100.14%
Monterey	50	100.16%
Hancock	48	100.18%
Oak Bluffs	47	100.20%
Leyden	46	100.22%
Conway	46	100.23%
Montgomery	46	100.25%
Petersham	45	100.27%
Windsor	43	100.29%
Tyringham	42	100.30%
Peru	42	100.32%
Becket	40	100.33%
Chester	40	100.35%
Savoy	34	100.36%
Washington	30	100.38%
Rowe	26	100.39%
Boxborough	26	100.40%
Brookline	24	100.40%
Chesterfield	23	100.41%
Heath	21	100.42%
Goshen	20	100.43%
New Ashford	17	100.44%
Hawley	16	100.44%
Williamsburg	14	100.45%
Nahant	11	100.45%
Florida	8	100.46%
Warwick	7	100.46%
Gosnold	5	100.46%
Amherst	5	100.46%
Plainfield	4	100.46%
Ashfield	1	100.46%
Cummington	-3	100.46%
Monroe	-3	100.46%
Concord	-6	100.46%
Pelham	-11	100.46%
Tisbury	-11	100.45%
Aquinnah	-14	100.45%
Clarksburg	-15	100.44%
Mount Washington	-19	100.43%
Wendell	-22	100.42%
Chilmark	-30	100.41%
Leverett	-31	100.40%
Shutesbury	-36	100.39%
Lincoln	-43	100.37%
West Tisbury	-49	100.35%
North Adams	-68	100.32%
Marblehead	-72	100.30%
Edgartown	-73	100.27%
Northampton	-86	100.23%
Swampscott	-596	100.00%
Total	255,881	100.00%