Super Tuesday not so super

Saugus voters back President Biden and former President Trump in Tuesday’s presidential primary; low turnout

By Mark E. Vogler

Only 26 percent of the town’s registered voters turned out to vote in Tuesday’s (March 5) Presidential Primary. That’s a drop-off from the 34 percent who voted four years earlier and the 45 percent back in 2016. The rainy weather and the paucity of candidates contributed to the lack of interest.

And there were no surprise results: the overwhelming favorites of Saugus voters were President Joseph R. Biden (75 percent) in the Democratic Primary and former President Donald J. Trump (79 percent). Libertarian candidate Chase Russell Oliver drew 16 percent of the vote in his primary. Biden and Trump dominated the voters in their respective races and are headed for a rematch in the Nov. 5 general election.

Biden received 1,653 votes out of the 2,202 Democratic ballots cast. There were 212 “No Preference” ballots. Dean Phillips received 148 votes and Marianne Williams drew 100.

Trump won Saugus by a rout in the Republican Primary, taking 2,748 out of a possible 3,482 votes. Nikki Haley finished a distant runner up with 656. The other Republican candidates were Chris Christie, 15; Ron DeSantis, 15; Vivek Ramaswamy, 8; Ryan Binkley, 2; and Asa Hutchinson, 1.

Town Democratic Committee Chair Joseph Stephen Malone topped the field with 1,288 votes for election to the Town Democratic Committee. Others elected to the committee: Joseph P. Dorant, John G. Andreucci, Marcia A. Pollack, Theodore W. Pollack, Karen Rakinic, Mary J. Robblee, Stacey Marie Herman-Dorant, James A. Tozza, Peter A. Rossetti Jr., Patrick Thomas Pierce, Randy-Sue Abber, Mary H. Kinsell and Linda Lee Bell.