LATEST UPDATE – Hillary Clinton suffered a stunning loss in the Nov. 8 Presidential election to Republican Donald J. Trump, but won decisively in Westford.
The first female candidate for a national political party was expected to win as the Democratic candidate and had scheduled her victory party under a glass ceiling in the Jacob K. Javits Conference Center in New York City. But as the election results came in throughout the night, state after state went to Trump, until he ultimately amassed 289 electoral votes to her 218.
The winning candidate is required to win at least 270 electoral votes in total.
The Clinton team expected to win at least some swing states — North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Michigan. But by midnight on Nov. 8, only Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin were pending. Those states as well as all of the swing states ultimately went to Trump.
Trump won most of the states in the heart of the country, while Clinton picked up states on the East and West coasts, as well as Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico.
Clinton drew 7,760 votes in Westford to Trump’s 4,657 votes.
At about 2 a.m., Nov. 9, Clinton campaign chairman, John Podesta appeared on stage at the Javits Center saying Clinton would not address her supporters until daylight. Podesta told the waiting crowd to “go home.”
Sometime around 3 a.m., Nov. 9, Trump addressed the nation, saying he’d received a call from Clinton and she had conceded the election. Clinton addressed the public in the late morning of Nov. 9.
“This loss hurts,” she said, “but never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it.”
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WESTFORD – Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won decisively in Westford, Nov. 8, with 7,760 votes to Donald Trump’s 4,657. But the former Secretary of State, who is the Democratic candidate, appears to have lost the national race to real estate tycoon Donald J. Trump, a Republican.
With the votes for Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin still pending at 2 a.m., Nov. 9, Clinton declined to concede the election. All three states appear to be wins for Trump. So far Clinton has garnered 215 electoral votes to Trump’s 244. The winning candidate must amass at least 270 electoral votes.
The pending outcome has shocked the nation and rocked the global markets. Most polls had predicted a Clinton win. Forbes reported the futures market on the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 734 points or 4 percent just after midnight, Nov. 9. Forbes suggested that Trump’s “anti free trade economic agenda,” made investors nervous.
Clinton sent her campaign chairman, John Podesta, out to the public to put the world on hold until daylight. Podesta told a waiting crowd at the Jacob K. Javits Conference Center to “go home.”
Other races
In the race for U.S. Representative for Congress, 3rd district, incumbent Niki S. Tsongas, a Lowell Democrat, blanked Ann Wofford, 8,664 to 4,803 votes in Westford. Wofford is a Haverhill Republican. District-wide Tsongas got 68.8 percent of the votes as compared to Wofford’s 31.2 percent, according to published reports.
In the Westford race for Governor’s Council, 5th District, Eileen R. Duff  (D-Gloucester) won over Richard A. Baker (R-West Newbury), 7,025 to 5,730 votes.
Incumbent Eileen Donoghue, a Lowell Democrat, was unopposed in her bid to return to the state Senate in the 1st Middlesex District. She received 10,071 votes in Westford.
Also unopposed was state Rep. James Arciero, 2nd Middlesex District. Arciero is a Westford Democrat, who got 10,871 Westford votes. He represents Littleton, Westford, and Chelmsford.
Peter J. Koutoujian, a Waltham Democrat, got 10,256 votes in Westford in his unopposed bid to return to the post of Middlesex Sheriff.
Ballot Questions
Article 1 lost in Westford, 8,977 to 4,484. Passage would “permit the state Gaming Commission to license one additional slot-machine gaming establishment at a location that meets certain conditions specified in the law,” according to the Secretary of State’s website. The article lost throughout the state, as well.
Article 2 lost in Westford, 7,975 to 5,690. Passage would “allow for up to 12 approvals each year of either new charter schools or expanded enrollments in existing charter schools, but not to exceed 1 percent of the statewide public school enrollment,” according to the Secretary of State. The article lost statewide, according to published reports.
Article 3 passed in Westford, 10,530 to 3,127. Passage would “prohibit any confinement of pigs, calves, and hens that prevents them from lying down, standing up, fully extending their limbs, or turning around freely,” according to the Secretary of State. The article passed across the state.
Article 4 lost in Westford, 7,169 to 6,557. Passage “would allow persons 21 and older to possess, use, and transfer marijuana and products containing marijuana concentrate (including edible products) and to cultivate marijuana, all in limited amounts, and would provide for the regulation and taxation of commercial sale of marijuana and marijuana products,” according to the website. The article passed across the state.
