Rep. Dylan Fernandes, a Falmouth Democrat, declared victory over Rep. Matt Muratore, a Plymouth Republican, in a race for a South Shore and Cape Cod Senate seat that has seen the 2 candidates collectively spend a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars} forward of Tuesday’s election.
Fernandes’ anticipated win retains the district in Democratic management and delivers a setback to the Massachusetts Republican Occasion, which had focused the race as considered one of their finest alternatives to flip a Senate seat and develop its super-minority caucus within the chamber.
In a telephone name with the Herald simply earlier than midnight, Fernandes stated Muratore had known as to concede the race and that the 2 males had a “really good and thoughtful conversation.”
“It is just an honor to represent this district and our campaign and our team worked incredibly hard to get us to where we are and knocked on over 30,000 doors,” Fernandes stated. “This campaign became a movement so much bigger than myself focused on affordability, protecting the environment, addressing mental health, and protecting women’s reproductive freedoms.”
Outcomes from the Related Press final up to date simply earlier than 11:50 p.m. confirmed Fernandes main with 20,147 votes in comparison with Muratore’s 13,342 with solely 26% of precincts reporting.
In an announcement to the Herald, Muratore stated he’s “proud of the race we ran.”
“We’re still looking over the numbers, but it appears that we outran the top of the ticket considerably, despite a high rate of voters blanking the race,” he stated. “We’re grateful for the support our campaign received and serving Plymouth in the state Legislature remains the honor of my lifetime.”
The race for the seat — which covers Bourne, Falmouth, Kingston, Mashpee, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, and Sandwich — kicked off after incumbent Sen. Susan Moran, a Falmouth Democrat, stated she wouldn’t search reelection to the Legislature.
Moran, a third-term senator, as a substitute determined to run for Barnstable County Clerk of Courts, a call that rapidly drew candidates to the race.
Like most native Republicans working for legislative seats this yr, Muratore has centered his messaging on immigration and the state’s decades-old right-to-shelter regulation. The statute ensures housing to pregnant ladies and households with kids and has since come to cowl migrants.
State spending on the emergency shelter system has skyrocketed over the previous yr amid an inflow of migrants to Massachusetts. Gov. Maura Healey’s administration has stated it expects to spend greater than $1 billion in every of the subsequent a number of fiscal years on the state-run shelter system.
Fernandes, who has drawn Healey’s help, has stated his prime points embody ladies’s rights, substance misuse, local weather change, psychological well being, housing, and holding accountable the corporate decommissioning the Pilgrim Nuclear Energy Station.
He was additionally key to coordinating companies for a gaggle of migrants shipped to Martha’s Winery in September 2022 on the behest of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a transfer that Democrats have labeled as a political stunt and has since prompted a federal lawsuit.
Each candidates drew the backing of tremendous PACs, or impartial spending committees that may increase and spend with no limits as long as they don’t straight coordinate with candidates.
The race has additionally seen every candidate increase mounds of money.
Muratore pulled in additional than $139,000 and spent upwards of $148,000 this yr, based on marketing campaign finance filings final up to date Oct. 31. Fernandes raised $315,000 and spent $362,000 throughout the identical interval, state information reveals.
MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale stated Fernandes’ anticipated win is essentially due to the sum of money that flowed into his marketing campaign.
“The amount of money that was spent in that race was really overwhelming, for sure,” she advised the Herald. “If it turns out that Matt’s not successful, I think it’s largely as a result of our Republican candidate being outspent.”
