Voting in Lynn, Swampscott, and Marblehead appeared to give Jenny Armini an edge Tuesday over Tristan Smith in the 8th Essex District race for the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
The other four candidates in the race were speechwriter and activist Diann Slavit Baylis, union leader Terri Tauro, former health care executive Doug Thompson, and former Swampscott Select Board member Polly Titcomb.
In Marblehead, Armini outpaced the competition, garnering 1,810 votes compared to 425 for Slavit Baylis; 539 for Tristan Smith; 730 for Terri Tauro; 713 for Doug Thompson; and 273 for Polly Titcomb.
In Swampscott, Smith held a sizable advantage, garnering 1,211 votes compared to Armini, who earned 425, Baylis, who earned 104, Tauro, who earned 148, Thompson, who earned 709, and Titcomb, who garnered 590.
In Lynn, precincts 3 and 4 in Ward 4 (the only two precincts in the district) went to Smith, who garnered 232 votes compared to just 68 for Armini, 28 for Baylis, 63 for Tauro, 116 for Thompson, and 94 for Titcomb.
In total, Armini cruised to more than two thousand votes, outpacing Smith by roughly 350 votes.
A guardedly-jubilant Armini thanked her campaign workers and talked about the long, hot summer campaign Tuesday night.
“I feel as if I left everything on the field, my supporters were amazing, we fought hard, we learned a lot, we had a fantastic time and honestly my opponents are incredible people,” she said.
Smith addressed supporters at his campaign headquarters around 9 p.m. Tuesday. He said he didn’t believe they would know the outcome of the race by the end of the night, but celebrated his staffers and the campaign they ran together.
“Our campaign does look a little different from some of the other campaigns being run — not only in this race, but across the state,” Smith said. “Our campaign is a little younger. Our campaign is certainly more diverse, including in ways of thinking and I’m extremely proud of that.”
About an hour before polls closed Tuesday, Thompson said he hoped his campaign, win or lose, would shed light on the district’s issues and inspire change.
“We have big challenges here in this community and across the Commonwealth and we need to find a way to address these challenges,” Thompson said about an hour before polls closed Tuesday. “We need bold leadership to do that and I hope, whether it’s me or anyone else that gets elected, that we have a leader who can drive positive change.”
“It does appear that we will not know the results tonight, there are outstanding ballots,” Smith said, adding, “At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what comes out in the end. This was a phenomenal campaign. It really was. It was well run by some of the best people in the world. I often say this world is made up of the world’s most random assortment of people.”
Armini expressed a similar sentiment, complimenting her opponents and volunteers as the night went on.
“You actually end up spending a lot of time with these people and they are so wonderful in so many ways and I just feel fortunate,” Armini said. “Tomorrow when I wake up and I have my morning cup of coffee, I will do so with a grateful heart.”
Rachel Barber can be reached at [email protected]. Charlie McKenna can be reached at [email protected].
