NOTES BETWEEN PRINTED EDITIONS
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, Nov. 6, 2026…..Unofficial vote counts show that the town of Wareham propelled Democrat Sarah Hewins in her race to unseat Republican Rep. John Gaskey in the Second Plymouth House District, though neither candidate has officially declared victory or conceded.
Town-by-town preliminary counts show that Hewins received 89 more votes than Gaskey on Tuesday. The available vote totals do not include hand-counted ballots.
“We remain committed to the process and allowing the election results to be determined without interference or pressure. We will update when definitive decisions can be made,” Gaskey wrote to the News Service late afternoon Thursday.
Reached on her landline Thursday morning, Hewins said that her team is waiting for votes to be certified to declare anything.
“So far we’ve won. We’ll see what happens when they certify the vote,” Hewins said. “Talk about every vote counts.”
Hewins received a total of 9,264 votes to Gaskey‘s 9,175, according to unofficial totals posted online by town clerks. Gaskey won his hometown of Carver (opens carverma.gov in a new tab), with 2,787 votes to Hewins’ 2,573, and all three precincts of Middleborough (opens middleboroughma.gov in a new tab), with 1,840 votes to Hewins’ 1,417. Hewins, however, won Wareham (opens wareham.gov in a new tab) with 5,274 votes to Gaskey‘s 4,548.
“Right now it stands at 89, that our team was successful [by] 89 votes,” Hewins, a Carver Select Board member, said. “Not sure exactly what they’re waiting for, but he has a chance. He can ask for a recount.”
Gaskey did not directly answer a question about whether he plans to file for a recount.
If a candidate wants a district-wide recount, the vote count has to be within half of a percent of votes cast, per the secretary of state’s office. The current 89-vote margin falls just within that threshold, based on current vote totals.
For a precinct-level recount, there’s no percentage required but candidates have to get 10 signatures per precinct in which they want a recount. Friday, Nov. 13, at 5 p.m. is the final time to submit recount petitions and district-wide recount petitions for certification of signatures with registrars of voters.
Nov. 18 at 5 p.m. is the deadline to file statewide and district-wide recount petitions with the secretary’s office, and the last day for election results of cities and towns to be transmitted to the secretary’s office, as well. Nov. 23 is the last day for registrars to complete precinct-level recounts.
Clerks also have until Nov. 15 to resolve and count any eligible provisional ballots cast Tuesday. Mail-in ballots are still coming in, as well as provisional ballots, Secretary of State William Galvin spokesperson Deb O’Malley said. She noted that vote totals will change as a result.
Gaskey won his Second Plymouth seat in the 2024 general election, in which Hewins ran as a write-in candidate. That cycle, Gaskey beat out incumbent Rep. Susan Williams Gifford in the Republican primary. Gifford had held the seat since 2003. According to state elections data, Hewins also ran as a Democrat in 2016 and 2018, losing to Gifford both cycles.
If Gaskey were to lose his seat, the Republican caucus in the House would shrink from 25 to 21 come January.
Democrats flipped several House seats Tuesday, including the Third Barnstable District where Jack Richardson of Falmouth beat Rep. David Vieira, the 22nd Middlesex District where Daniel Darris-O’Connor of Billerica beat Rep. Marc Lombardo, the 20th Middlesex District where Joe Markey of Lynnfield won outgoing Minority Leader Brad Jones’ seat, and the First Worcester District where Krista Ferrante of Princeton won outgoing Rep. Kim Ferguson’s seat.
Republican Jesse St. Gelais flipped Democratic Rep. Steven Ouellette‘s House seat in the Eighth Bristol District.
House Speaker Ron Mariano said in a statement Wednesday that the House had four Democratic pickups in Tuesday’s elections, counting Gaskey‘s seat as one of them.
Ella Adams is a reporter for the State House News Service and State Affairs Pro Massachusetts. Reach her at ella.adams@statehousenews.com.
