Unofficial vote totals posted online by town clerks show Democrat Sarah Hewins leading Republican Rep. John Gaskey by just 89 votes in the Second Plymouth House District, with Hewins at 9,264 votes to Gaskey's 9,175. Neither candidate has officially declared victory or conceded, and the race remains uncalled days after polls closed.
The margin is thin enough that it could reshape the balance of power on Beacon Hill, where the outcome would help determine whether House Republicans lose three or four seats this cycle. According to State House News Service, the available vote totals included no hand-counted ballots, and the race was not tracked by the Associated Press. Hewins told the outlet, “So far we've won. We'll see what happens when they certify the vote.”
Wareham Turnout Proved Decisive
Hewins' path to a potential upset ran through Wareham, where she outpolled Gaskey 5,274 to 4,548, according to Wareham Week. That edge was enough to offset Gaskey's performance elsewhere in the district: he carried Carver and swept all three Middleboro precincts, the town paper reported in a separate piece covering the race's aftermath.
Gaskey, the incumbent representing the Second Plymouth district, has not said whether he intends to seek a recount. The same report noted he wrote that he remained committed to letting the results be determined without interference or pressure and would provide updates once a definitive decision could be made.
A Rematch Years in the Making
Hewins, who has served on the Carver Select Board since 2009, is no stranger to this race. She ran as a Democrat in 2016 and 2018 and lost both times to then-Rep. Susan Williams Gifford, who had held the seat since 2003. When Gaskey beat Gifford in the 2024 Republican primary, Hewins mounted a late write-in campaign that fall and garnered just under 11% of the vote before Gaskey went on to win the seat outright.
This time, Hewins ran as the Democratic nominee from the start. Whether that full campaign translates into a certified win remains an open question, as mail-in and provisional ballots were still arriving as of Thursday, according to Deb O'Malley, a spokesperson for the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office, who said vote totals will continue to change as those ballots are counted.
What a Recount Would Require
Massachusetts' recount rules, laid out in the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Election Recounts guide, set a district-wide recount threshold at no more than 0.5 percent of votes cast for the office. The guide outlines a process in which petitions must reach local registrars by 5 p.m. on the tenth day after the election and be filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office by the fifteenth day, though it cautions that deadlines can be altered by state law for a given election.
Part of a Broader Night for House Democrats
The Second Plymouth contest was one of several competitive State House races decided this week. Democrats flipped multiple seats, including Falmouth's Jack Richardson defeating Rep. David Vieira in the Third Barnstable District, a seat held by a member of Republican House leadership. Daniel Darris-O'Connor beat Rep. Marc Lombardo in the 22nd Middlesex District, Joe Markey won outgoing minority leader Brad Jones' seat in the 20th Middlesex District, and Krista Ferrante won outgoing Rep. Kim Ferguson's seat in the First Worcester District.
Not every result broke the Democrats' way. In the Eighth Bristol District, Republican Jesse St. Gelais flipped Democratic Rep. Steven Ouellette's seat, with unofficial totals showing Ouellette losing 8,547 votes to St. Gelais' 9,006. House Speaker Ron Mariano said the chamber saw four Democratic pickups on Tuesday, counting Gaskey's seat among them — though one account put the Republican caucus shrinking to a maximum of 22 members next session, while another put the number at 21 if Gaskey's seat flips, a discrepancy the available reporting does not resolve.
