hill country observerThe independent newspaper of eastern New York, southwestern Vermont and the Berkshires

 

News & Issues December 2024

 

ELECTION 2024 RESULTS

Push for ranked-choice ballots gains traction nationally, locally

 

Here are the results of the Nov. 5 election for federal and state offices across the region. Winning candidates are in boldface type if the outcome is not in dispute. Incumbents are marked with an asterisk (*). Uncontested races are not shown.
Statewide results for the presidential race are listed in the main table; a separate county-by-county tally of presidential returns is provided in the chart on this page. All figures from Massachusetts and Vermont are final, official returns certified by the secretaries of state. Figures for New York are unofficial returns but include counts of absentee ballots reported as of Nov. 29 from Columbia, Rensselaer, Warren and Washington counties.

 

MASSACHUSETTS

The voter registration deadline is Oct. 26. Vote-by-mail application deadline is Oct. 29. Early voting is offered Oct. 19 through Nov. 1; schedules vary by town and city and will be posted by Oct. 11 at www.voteinMA.com. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 5. Mail ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 5 and received by 5 p.m. Nov. 8 (or by Nov. 15 if postmarked from outside the United States).

 

President AND Vice President
Shiva Ayyadurai and Crystal Ellis (i) ................. 18,419 (0.5%)
Claudia De La Cruz and Karina Garcia (SL) ... 12,887 (0.4%)
Kamala D. Harris and Tim Walz (D) ......... 2,126,545 (61.6%)
Chase Oliver and Mike Ter Maat (L) ............... 17,734 (0.5%)
Jill Stein and Gloria Caballero Roca (G-R) ..... 26,544 (0.8%)
Donald J. Trump and JD Vance (R) ......... 1,251,308 (36.2%)

 

U.S. SENATOR
John Deaton (R) of Swansea ..................... 1,365,445 (40.1%)
* Elizabeth Warren (D) of Cambridge ..... 2,041,693 (59.9%)

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE -- 1st District
Nadia Donya Milleron (i) of Sheffield ........ 133,552 (37.4%)
* Richard E. Neal (D) of Springfield .......... 223,325 (62.6%)

State Senator (Berkshire, Hampden, Franklin, Hampshire Dist)
* Paul W. Mark (D) of Becket ...................... 62,249 (70.9%)
David Rosa (R) of Dighton ............................. 25,494 (29.1%)

 

State REPRESENTATIVE -- 3rd Berkshire District
Leigh Davis (D) of Great Barrington ............ 13,819 (57.5%)
Marybeth F. Mitts (i) of Lenox ....................... 10,222 (42.5%)

 

Ballot Propositions
Question 1 -- Auditing the Legislature
A Yes vote gives the state auditor specific authority to audit the Legislature.
Yes ............................................................ 2,326,932 (71.6%)
No .................................................................... 924,294 (28.4%)
Question 2 -- Eliminate MCAS requirement
A Yes vote eliminates the requirement that students pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System to graduate from high school.
Yes ............................................................ 2,004,216 (59.1%)
No ................................................................. 1,388,560 (40.9%)

Question 3 -- Unionization for rideshare drivers
A Yes vote gives rideshare drivers who work for companies like Uber and Lyft the option to join a union.
Yes ............................................................ 1,771,770 (54.1%)
No ................................................................. 1,504,681 (45.9%)

Question 4 -- Legalization of psychedelic substances
A Yes vote would have allowed people over 21 to use certain natural psychedelic substances under licensed supervision and created a commission to regulate those substances.
Yes ................................................................. 1,444,812 (43.2%)
No ............................................................ 1,902,527 (56.8%)

Question 5 -- Minimum wage for tipped workers
A Yes vote would have raised the minimum hourly wage for tipped workers to the full state minimum wage in increments over five years, at which point employers could have pooled all tips and distributed them to all non-management workers.
Yes ................................................................. 1,200,980 (35.9%)
No ............................................................ 2,147,245 (64.1%)


NEW YORK

President and Vice President
Kamala D. Harris and Tim Walz (D, WF). 4,389,828 (55.9%)
Donald J. Trump and JD Vance (R, C) .... 3,469,339 (44.1%)

 

U.S. SENATOR
* Kirsten Gillibrand (D, WF) .................... 4,483,539 (58.4%)
Michael D. Sapraicone (R, C).................... 3,150,881 (41.1%)
Diane Sare (i) ......................................................36,526 (0.5%)

 

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE -- 19th District
(11 counties including Columbia and most of Rensselaer)
* Marcus Molinaro (R, C) ............................ 181,291 (49.1%)
Josh Riley (D, WF) ...................................... 187,771 (50.9%)

 

U.S. representative -- 20th District
(Albany, Schenectady, southern Saratoga and parts of Rensselaer and Montgomery counties)
* Paul D. Tonko (D, WF) ............................ 217,999 (61.1%)
Kevin M. Waltz (R, C) ..................................... 139,038 (38.9%)

 

U.S. representative -- 21ST District
(15 counties incl. Warren, Washington, northern Saratoga)
Paula Collins (D, WF) ................................... 127,588 (37.8%)
* Elise M. Stefanik (R, C) ........................... 210,197 (62.2%)

 

State Senate

41st district (Columbia, Greene and parts of Ulster and Dutchess counties)
* Michelle Hinchey (D, WF) ....................... 100,153 (58.6%)
Patrick Sheehan (R, C) ...................................... 79,872 (41.4%)

 

43rd district (Rensselaer and parts of Albany and Washington counties)
* Jake Ashby (R, C) ........................................ 81,604 (54.7%)
Alvin Gamble (D)................................................ 67,671 (45.3%)

 

44th district (Saratoga and part of Schenectady County)
Minita J. Sanghvi (D, WF) ................................. 64,514 (41.7%)
* James N. Tedisco (R, C) ............................ 90,013 (58.3%)

 

State Assembly

106th district (parts of Columbia and Dutchess counties)
* Didi Barrett (D, WF) .................................. 39,413 (57.1%)
Stephan L. Krakower (R, C) ............................. 29,649 (42.9%)

107th district (parts of Columbia, Rensselaer, Washington and Albany counties)
* Scott H. Bendett (R, C) .............................. 39,705 (52.9%)
Chloe E. Pierce (D) ........................................... 35,360 (47.1%)

 

112th district (parts of Saratoga, Schenectady and Fulton)
Joe Seeman (D, WF) .......................................... 29,988 (40.9%)
* Mary Beth Walsh (R, C) ............................. 43,376 (59.1%)

 

113th district (parts of Saratoga, Warren and Washington)
Jeremy Messina (R, C) .................................... 30,731 (45.3%)
* Carrie Woerner (D) ................................... 37,127 (54.7%)

 

STATEWIDE Ballot Proposal
A Yes vote amends the state constitution to protect against unequal treatment based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability and sex “including sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”
Yes ........................................................... 4,541,686 (61.9%)
No .................................................................. 2,792,928 (38.1%)

 

SARATOGA COUNTY TREASURER
* JoAnn Kupferman (R, i) ............................ 67,632 (56.7%)
Michele D. Madigan (D) ................................ 51,735 (43.3%)

 

VERMONT

President and Vice President
Claudia De La Cruz and Karina Garcia (SL)..... 1,710 (0.4%)
Rachele Fruit and Dennis Richter (SW) .............. 211 (0.1%)
Kamala D. Harris and Tim Walz (D) ............. 235,791 (64.4%)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. & Nicole Shanahan (i) ... 5,905 (1.6%)
Chase Oliver and Mike Ter Maat (L) ................ 1,828 (0.5%)
Donald J. Trump and JD Vance (R) ............... 119,395 (32.6%)
Cornel West and Melina Abdullah (PJ) ............ 1,549 (0.4%)

 

Governor
Esther Charlestin (D, P) of Middlebury ........ 79,217 (21.9%)
June Goodband (PJ) of Springfield ................... 4,512 (1.2%)
Kevin Hoyt (i) of Bennington ............................ 9,368 (2.6%)
Eli “Poa” Mutino (i) of Barre ............................. 2,414 (0.7%)
* Phil Scott (R) of Berlin ............................ 266,439 (73.6%)

 

Lieutenant governor
Ian Diamondstone (PJ) of Putney ................... 13,671 (3.9%)
John S. Rodgers (R) of Glover ..................... 171,854 (48.9%)
* David Zuckerman (D, P) of Hinesburg .... 165,876 (47.2%)
(Legislature must decide after no candidate gets 50 pecent.)


U.S. SENATOR
Steve Berry (i) of Manchester ............................ 7,941 (2.2%)
Mark Stewart Greenstein (i) of Brattleboro ...... 1,104 (0.3%)
Matt Hill (L) of Burke ......................................... 4,530 (1.2%)
Gerald Malloy (R) of Weathersfield ............ 116,512 (32.1%)
* Bernie Sanders (i) of Burlington .............. 229,429 (63.2%)
Justin Schoville (PJ) of Barnard ......................... 3,339 (0.9%)

U.S. Representative
* Becca Balint (D) of Brattleboro ............... 218,398 (62.5%)
Marc Coester (R, L) of Westminster ................ 104,451 (29.9%)
Jill “Jessy” Diamondstone (PJ) of Dummerston 7,552 (2.2%)
Adam Ortiz (i) of Newport ............................... 19,286 (5.5%)

 

State treasurer
Joshua Bechhoefer (R) of Cornwall ............ 135,763 (39.1%)
* Mike Pieciak (D) of Winooski .................. 211,134 (60.9%)

 

Secretary of state
* Sarah Copeland Hanzas (D) of Bradford .. 205,378 (59.7%)
H. Brooke Paige (R) of Washington ............... 138,673 (40.3%)

 

Attorney general
* Charity Clark (D) of Williston .................. 200,711 (60.9%)
Kevin Gustafson (PJ) of Rutland Town ........... 17,159 (4.9%)
Ture Nelson (R) of Berlin ............................... 128,798 (37.2%)


State Senate

Bennington District (two seats)
Steve Berry (i) of Manchester ......................................... 2,459
Seth Bongartz (D) of Manchester .............................. 10.053
Cynthia Browning (i) of Arlington ................................. 2,867
Joseph “Joe” Gervais (R) of Arlington ............................ 8,647
Rob Plunkett (D) of Bennington ................................. 9,160
Lawrence “Spike” Whitmire (i) of Shaftsbury ............... 3,539

Rutland District (three seats)
Martha Cassel (D) of Rutland Town ............................ 12,040
* Brian “BC” Collamore (R) of Rutland Town .......... 18,380
Dana Peterson (D) of Rutland Town ............................. 9,704
Robert J. Richards (D) of Fair Haven ............................. 9,235
* David Weeks (R) of Proctor .................................... 16,097
* Terry K. Williams (R) of Poultney ........................... 15,998


State House

Bennington District 1 (Pownal, Readsboro, Searsburg, Stamford and Woodford)
Bruce Busa (R) of Readsboro .......................... 1,242 (49.5%)
Jonathan Cooper (D) of Pownal ..................... 1,265 (50.5%)
(Legislature to resolve dispute over ballot error.)

 

Bennington District 2 (two seats; town of Bennington)
Anthony A. Cook (R) ...................................................... 1,363
* Timothy R. Corcoran II (D) ..................................... 2,136
William “Will” Greer (D) ............................................ 1,858

 

Bennington Dist. 3 (Glastenbury, Shaftsbury, Sunderland)
* David K. Durfee (D) of Shaftsbury ............. 1,342 (56.2%)
Victor K. Harwood Jr. (R) of Shaftsbury .......... 1,046 (43.8%)

 

Bennington District 5 (two seats; Bennington, Pownal)
* Jim Carroll (D) .............................................................. 1,763
* Mary A. Morrissey (R) .............................................. 2,157
Michael Nigro (D) ....................................................... 1,940

 

Bennington-Rutland District (Dorset, Landgrove, Peru, Danby, Mount Tabor)
Sandra “Sandy” Pinsonault (R) of Dorset ..... 1,475 (54.6%)
* Mike Rice (D) of Dorset ................................ 1,225 (45.4%)

 

Rutland-Bennington District (Middletown Springs, Pawlet, Rupert, Wells and Tinmouth)
* Robin Chesnut-Tangerman (D) of M.S. ..... 1,135 (43.9%)
Chris Pritchard (R) of Pawlet ........................ 1,450 (56.1%)

 

Rutland District 2 (two seats; Clarendon, Rutland, Wallingford and West Rutland)
David Bosch (R) of Clarendon ..................................... 2,836
* Tom Burditt (R) of West Rutland .............................. 3,014
Dave Potter (D) of Clarendon ......................................... 2,234

 

Rutland District 4 (Rutland city and town)
Christopher Howard (R) of Rutland Town .... 1,458 (55.9%)
Anna Tadio (D) of Rutland City ...................... 1,148 (44.1%)

 

Rutland District 6 (city of Rutland)
* Mary E. Howard (D) ....................................... 849 (51.4%)
Cindy Laskevich (R) ................................................ 802 (48.6%)

 

Rutland District 7 (city of Rutland)
Chris Keyser (R)
* William Notte (D)

Rutland District 9 (Brandon)
* Stephanie Zak Jerome (D)
Todd Nielsen (R)

Rutland-Windsor District (Mount Holly, Shrewsbury and Ludlow)
Adrienne Raymond (D) of Shrewsbury
Kevin C. Winter (R) of Ludlow

 

C -- Conservative Party
D -- Democratic Party
GR -- Green-Rainbow Party
i -- independent (no party)
L -- Libertarian Party
P -- Progressive Party
PJ -- Peace and Justice Party
R -- Republican Party
SL -- Socialism & Liberation
SW -- Socialist Workers
WF -- Working Families Party