Rep.Ryan Cruises To Victory Over Avellaneda

Back in March, State Rep. Dan Ryan easily toppled the competition during a special election for the  Second Suffolk District State Representative seat and Tuesday night was no different for the Charlestown native and incumbent.

Though Avellaneda bested Ryan in Chelsea by several hundred votes, Ryan’s strong showing and the larger voting block in Charlestown led him to a comfortable victory overall of more than 1,000 votes.

The final tally for the entire district was Ryan with 2,541 and Avellaneda 1,273.

Ryan officially won the Democratic Nomination for the seat during Tuesday’s special election over Avellaneda, who challenged Ryan during the March special election also. With no Republican challenger, Ryan will head into the General Election unopposed and will win reelection to continue serving Charlestown and Chelsea at the State House.

In Charlestown, Ryan grabbed 84 percent of the vote or 2,172 votes. Avellaneda ended up with only 447 votes in Charlestown.

In Chelsea, Ryan got 31 percent of the vote or 369 votes and Avellaneda got 69 percent with 826 votes. For Avellaneda, that was fewer votes than he got in the cold-weather Special Election earlier this year, which was highly unexpected. He scored more than 1,000 votes in Chelsea back then.

Chelsea’s official turnout number for the Primary was 14.5 percent.

“I want to thank all the hard work of all the volunteers over these past six months,” said Ryan at his victory party at the Warren Tavern in Charlestown. “We never stopped working and we will continue to work for the people of Charlestown and Chelsea.”

Ryan energized the crowd when he talked about the contentious casino topic.

“This reelection means that Charlestown has a seat at the negotiating table and I will be there because my next campaign stop will be to the casino commission,” said Ryan to thunderous applause. “If they decide to approve a casino in Everett, you can rest assure Wynn will have to pay and there will be a new Sullivan Square.”

On his growing support in Chelsea with elected officials like City Council President Matt Frank from Chelsea backing him, Ryan said he plans to do the same for Chelsea.

“The bridge from Charlestown to Chelsea is two ways,” said Ryan. “That means that Chelsea came here to support me and Charlestown will be in Chelsea any time they need support.”

Ryan’s victory back in March brought the seat back to Charlestown for the first time since the late 1970s. Jimmy Collins won the seat back in 1977. In 1978 the seat was redistricted and Chelsea’s Richie Voke ousted Collins. The seat has been held by Chelsea residents ever since.

Prior to working for U.S. Congressman Michael Capuano as his chief aide, Ryan spent 10 years working at the Charlestown Boys and Girls Club where he served as director of the Teen Center and program coordinator for the Healthy Charlestown Coalition.

Ryan and his wife, Kara Segal-Ryan, are raising their three children.

  • In other election action on the state level, Chelsea pretty much reflected the overall statewide returns, picking just about every candidate on the Democratic side that won.

Gubernatorial Nominee Martha Coakley got 964 votes (58 percent) in Chelsea, and won statewide with 42 percent. Steve Grossman had 479 votes (29 percent) locally and 36 percent of the vote statewide. Don Berwick gained 21 percent of the vote statewide and 13 percent in Chelsea.

For Lt. Gov., Stephen Kerrigan won locally with 44 percent of the Chelsea vote, but got 51 percent statewide. Leland Cheung garnered 30 percent of the vote in Chelsea and statewide.

Attorney General nominee Maura Healy soared to victory in Chelsea (61 percent) and statewide (62 percent) over Warren Tolman (38 percent in Chelsea and statewide).

For Treasurer, Deb Goldberg secured the nomination statewide with 43 percent of the vote, while also getting 43 percent of the Chelsea vote. Barry Finegold had 33 percent locally and 32 percent statewide. Tom Conroy scored 23 percent of the Chelsea vote.

State Sen. Sal DiDomenico cruised to victory with 1,266 votes, though running unopposed.

On the Republican side, Gubernatorial nominee Charlie Baker won easily in Chelsea with 76 percent of the GOP vote and similar results statewide.

In the county races, most notably Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins bested Revere’s Jeremiah Goodwin in Chelsea and county-wide. Goodwin finished second in Chelsea, but third county-wide behind perennial candidate Doug Bennett – whose only splash in the race was his homemade, crudely painted green signs that were virtually everywhere.

Felix Arroyo took the race for Register of Probate, getting 641 votes in Chelsea (44 percent) along the way. He unseats Patty Campatelli, who got 341 Chelsea votes.

District Attorney Dan Conley took in another victory, though unopposed, and in Prattville, State Rep. RoseLee Vincent won an unopposed race for the district that represents that neighborhood and half of Revere.

 

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