Clark Carries Belmont With Ease in Special Election for 5th Rep Seat

The snow and ice during the day didn't help with voter turnout in the Special General Election held on Tuesday, Dec. 10 in the cities and towns in the 5th Massachusetts Congressional District which includes Belmont. Just one in seven voters took out ballots in Belmont's eight precincts. 

Neither was participation levels assisted in the overwhelmingly Democrat district in which the party's nominee, state Sen. Katherine Clark, was expected to win overwhelming over her Republican challenger, attorney F.J. Addivinola, who was handicapped by not living in the district. 

And Clark did not disappoint her supporters in the district and Belmont as she easily rolled to victory to succeed Ed Markey, who won the US Senate seat when John Kerry – who, incidentally turns 70 years old today – was appointed US Secretary of State earlier this year.

In Belmont, Clark picked up 1,918 votes compared to 774 for Addivinola, winning the Town of Homes with approximatley 70 percent of the vote cast. Addivinola collected 28 percent while two minor candidates and write-in votes took about two percent.

District wide, Clark received two of every three vote cast, 66 percent, with Addivinola taking 32 percent. 

A little more than 15 percent of Belmont's eligible voters came out to vote in the special election. Complete results can be found on the Town Clerk's 2013 Elections page. 

About double that amount, 33 percent, came out to vote in the party primary in which Belmont resident and state Sen. Will Brownsberger was a candidate. In the primary, Clark received 565 votes in Belmont.