Kerry tops O’Reilly on No. Shore, state

Veteran U.S. Sen. John Kerry beat challenger and Gloucester attorney Edward O’Reilly by approximately 69 percent of the vote to 31 percent in Tuesday’s primary election.Lynn voters put Kerry back on the November ticket by an almost 2-1 margin with 2,630 votes to 1,257.With one out of every 10 registered voters coming to the polls in Lynn seven weeks before the presidential election, the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat was the front and center election attraction.Although noting the Kerry-O’Reilly match-up was one of the only major contested races for the area, one Saugus poll watcher said the biggest race seemed to be between write-ins and blanks.O’Reilly fared slightly better in Saugus, losing by only 474 votes but it was still a solid defeat. Roughly 2,300 voters turned out 1,249 ballots in Kerry’s favor and 775 for O’Reilly.Swampscott also soundly chose Kerry over O’Reilly with 1,005 votes to 389.With possibly the smallest turnout on the North Shore, Nahant delivered Kerry 247 votes while only offering up 139 for O’Reilly.Voter turnout in Peabody was reflective of most cities and towns in that it was also low. Kerry took the contest with 2,501 votes to O’Reilly’s 1,537.In Revere, where the turnout was 14 percent, Kerry received 2,059 votes compared to 1,022 for O’Reilly.The Democratic primary for the 6th District Governor’s Council seat featured a tighter finish with Michael Callahan beating Roseann Trionfi-Mazzuchelli 1,305-1,265 votes.O’Reilly was Kerry’s first challenger in 24 years. He tried to make Kerry’s 2003 granting President George W. Bush permission to launch military action against Iraq a central issue of the contest, but Kerry held him at bay.When his win became obvious Kerry said he was humbled by the support of Democratic voters and looked forward to the November general election.”There are unfinished fights that we must win and I want to return to Washington to make sure every American has the same great health care that I receive as a senator,” Kerry said in a statement. “I have always been honored to be the Junior Senator from Massachusetts.”Kerry, who was also the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, will face Republican Jeffrey Beatty in the Nov. 4 final election.The former CIA official and member of the Army’s Delta Force said in a written statement that he wants to bring “accountability and focus to this state’s junior Senate seat after 24 long years with John Kerry.”Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.