High Voter Turnout Surprises Officials as State Rep. Gregory Sullivan Defeats Challenger Timothy J. McDonough-September 16, 1988

Fueled by bright sunshine, clear skies, and an intense ground game led by two hometown candidates, approximately 45 percent of Norwood’s registered voters headed to the polls yesterday for a state representative primary election that far exceeded local expectations.

Intense Campaigning Drives 45 Percent Voter Turnout

Town Clerk Robert Thornton expressed surprise at the high turnout, attributing the momentum to the hard work put in by the primary contestants: incumbent state Rep. Gregory W. Sullivan (D-Norwood) and his Democratic challenger, Timothy J. McDonough, a Norwood School Committee member. “They generated a lot of interest,” Thornton said. “All you had to do was drive around town today and you could see it. They were out there, plenty of signs and reminders to vote.”

Throughout election day, enthusiastic supporters of both Sullivan and McDonough lined major thoroughfares such as Nahatan Street and Washington Street with campaign signs and banners. Doris Dauksis, a warden for Districts 6 and 7 working at the Balch School polling location, echoed that sentiment: “We had a lot more voters than expected. The reason is we have two young local Norwood boys running for state representative. That’s aroused a lot of interest.”

Election Results: Sullivan Sweeps All Nine Districts

When the ballots were tallied by approximately 11:00 p.m., Gregory Sullivan secured a decisive victory across all nine Norwood voting districts, defeating McDonough by a roughly 2-1 ratio with 4,220 votes to McDonough’s 2,127 votes.

In the concurrent race for two Norfolk County Commissioner seats, James J. Collins led the ticket with 3,341 votes, followed by Mary P. Collins with 2,840 votes and George B. McDonald with 2,424 votes. Town Clerk Thornton reported that voting proceeded smoothly throughout the day without major incident.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger