UPDATED: Alex Bezanson is now claiming victory in the primary, after the Associated Press updated their results. No word yet from Carlos Da Silva.
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The two Democratic candidates for Plymouth County Commissioner say they will wait for the Secretary of Commonwealth to certify primary election results on Saturday before declaring victory.
The race between Alex Bezanson and Carlos Da Silva is so close — just a couple dozen votes out of more than 44,000 cast seperate the two candidates – that the outcome could still change as town and city clerks across Plymouth County send their final double-checked tallies into the state.
Currently, results compiled by the Associated Press has Da Silva, an at-large member of the Democratic State Committee and President of the Hingham Sons and Daughters of Italy, leading 22,083 to 22,049 – or by 34 votes.
However, those results are based on Bezanson, who chairs the Abington Board of Selectmen, winning the town of Kingston by a vote of 152-133. The Kingston Town Clerk’s Office posted official results to its webpage on Wednesday that says Bezanson won 598-475, which would give Bezanson an 89-vote lead overall.
It appears the early election tally report used just the results from Kingston’s precinct 4, which Bezanson won 152-133.
Despite the swing in his favor, Bezanson said he wouldn’t comment until Saturday, when Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin is expected to certify the election results.
Da Silva said he was still going by the Associated Press tally and didn’t have any information otherwise. Still, he wasn’t declaring victory either.
“It’s too crazy,” he said in an interview Thursday night. “Hopefully by Saturday we’ll know for sure.”
Election night ended with Da Silva up about 160 votes, but with three towns not reporting results. Those towns – Marshfield, Pembroke, and Marion – posted results on Wednesday that trimmed Da Silva’s lead to just 34 votes. Kingston later that day posted its updated results.
Bezanson won the vote in 20 of Plymouth County’s 27 cities and towns, including Brockton, but was swamped in the seven communities won by Da Silva.
Most towns post unofficial results within a couple hours after the polls close. Town and city clerks then spend the next couple days re-checking numbers, ensuring that all absentee and early voting ballots have been counted, and reviewing handcount ballots and write in votes. Typically, the final numbers turned into the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office are within a couple votes of the preliminary tallies. However, with the race this close, a couple votes per town could shift the result.
The winner of the race will face incumbent Plymouth County Commissioner Sandra Wright, who did not have a primary opponent.