Shifting counts leave Second Plymouth race unresolved as recounts loom

ONE WEEK AFTER Election Day, the race for the Second Plymouth District seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives remains unsettled.

Republican incumbent Rep. John Gaskey and Democratic challenger Sarah Hewins both at different points have declared victory or claimed to be winning in the district that includes all of Wareham and Carver and part of Middleborough.

Gaskey, a Republican from Carver, won the seat in 2024 after defeating incumbent Rep. Susan Williams Gifford in the Republican primary. Hewins, a Carver Select Board member, previously ran for the seat as a Democrat in 2016 and 2018, losing to Gifford both times. In 2024, she ran as a write-in candidate.

Republicans entered the election with 25 seats in the Massachusetts House, already a small minority against a Democratic supermajority. Democrats flipped a handful of Republican-held seats on November 3, and the Second Plymouth race could determine whether the Republican caucus loses three or four seats.

The unofficial totals in the Second Plymouth race have shifted, candidates have relied on different sets of figures to support competing claims, and questions remain about how preliminary numbers were reported and corrected in Wareham.

As of Tuesday afternoon, November 10, the local clerks did not provide vote totals when asked.

Both candidates are pursuing recount options, according to Secretary of State William Galvin spokesperson Deb O’Malley.

How the race has unfolded

Tuesday, November 3 — Election Day: According to the Wareham Week, Gaskey declared victory after results from Carver and Middleborough became available, before Wareham’s full results were included. The newspaper later reported that he declared victory based on those two towns’ numbers. At that point, the district-wide outcome remained dependent on Wareham, which accounts for a substantial share of the district’s voters.

Wednesday, November 4 — No official call: By approximately 4:30 p.m., Gaskey told the News Service that the race remained uncalled. The Wareham Week reported that Hewins “appeared” to have narrowly defeated him with an 89-vote margin. That same day, Speaker Ron Mariano announced that Democrats had gained four House seats, with his spokesperson confirming Gaskey’s seat was included in that tally but offering no figures to explain the calculation.

Thursday, November 5 — Hewins acknowledges an apparent lead: Preliminary town results showed Hewins ahead. Reached Thursday morning, Hewins told the News Service, “So far we’ve won. We’ll see what happens when they certify the vote.” She added, “Talk about every vote counts.” She also noted that Gaskey “can ask for a recount.” Gaskey, meanwhile, told the News Service that his campaign remained committed to the process and would allow the results to be determined without interference or pressure. He did not directly answer whether he intended to seek a recount.

Friday, November 6, morning — Hewins leads by 89 votes: Unofficial totals posted online by town clerks showed Hewins with 9,264 votes to Gaskey’s 9,175, an 89-vote advantage. Those figures did not include hand-counted ballots. The breakdown showed Gaskey winning Carver, his hometown, 2,787 to 2,573, and Middleborough, 1,840 to 1,417. Hewins was winning Wareham, 5,274 to 4,548, per the unofficial tally. Her advantage in Wareham outweighed Gaskey’s leads in the other two communities. At the time, the margin fell within the half-of-one-percent threshold required for a district-wide recount.

Friday, November 6, afternoon — Gaskey’s campaign declares victory: The figures appeared to shift again. Gaskey’s campaign manager, Jason Ross, provided the News Service with what he said was an updated preliminary results spreadsheet emailed by Wareham Town Clerk Lisa Johnson to both candidates. The email listed 4,719 votes for Gaskey and 5,305 for Hewins in Wareham, a different breakdown from the earlier figures. Ross announced that Gaskey had won reelection by 64 votes. The campaign combined the new Wareham figures with Carver’s previously posted results and updated Middleborough numbers of 1,889 for Gaskey and 1,453 for Hewins. Ross said Gaskey had obtained the Middleborough and Carver figures in person from the town clerks.

Gaskey also issued a statement thanking voters for returning him to the State House. “This is a reminder of just how important it is to listen to the concerns of every voter, to never take their support for granted, and to continue to work to make their lives better and our government more accountable to them,” he said. The News Service could not independently confirm the updated Middleborough figures with its town clerk, nor did it receive confirmation from either the Carver or Middleborough clerk that the numbers supplied by the campaign were accurate.

Monday, November 9 — Wareham corrects its spreadsheet: Gaskey said in a statement posted online that Wareham Town Clerk Lisa Johnson had emailed both candidates a corrected spreadsheet Monday, explaining that Friday’s version “was incorrect and contained typographical errors.” According to Gaskey’s statement, the replacement spreadsheet listed 4,588 votes for Gaskey and 5,306 for Hewins in Wareham. Gaskey said the corrections reduced his reported total by 131 votes and increased Hewins’s by one, a 132-vote swing that reversed the apparent district-wide victory his campaign announced Friday. According to his statement, the changes included a 100-vote reduction in his Precinct 6 Election Day tabulator count, a 30-vote reduction in his Precinct 3 early-processing count, and the removal of one hand-counted vote in Precinct 4. Hewins gained one vote in the Precinct 6 tabulator count.

Gaskey called on Galvin’s Elections Division to investigate, review the underlying tabulator tapes and hand-count records, and independently verify Wareham’s revised totals. He said “voters deserve an accurate count and a full explanation when the numbers provided by election officials inexplicably changed enough to reverse the apparent outcome.”

Tuesday, November 10 — Recount petitions and unanswered questions: Asked about Gaskey’s request for an investigation, Galvin spokesperson Deb O’Malley said, “If a candidate believes that the unofficial results that have been posted are not accurate, the appropriate remedy is to request a hand recount. Rep. Gaskey has obtained petitions for a precinct-level recount and a districtwide recount. I believe that Sarah Hewins is also circulating districtwide recount petitions.”

The News Service contacted Wareham Town Clerk Lisa Johnson on Tuesday afternoon seeking updated totals, copies of the spreadsheets shared with the campaigns, and information about outstanding ballots. Johnson said over the phone, “Everything is still preliminary,” and directed further questions to email. She did not respond to the subsequent questions. The Carver and Middleborough clerks also did not respond to requests for updated totals, outstanding ballot counts or information about recount petitions. Neither campaign returned calls seeking an update Tuesday afternoon. O’Malley did not directly address whether any review beyond the recount process was planned.

What happens next

Recount petitions must be submitted to town clerks by Friday, November 13, at 5 p.m., then certified district-wide recount petitions are to be filed with the secretary of state’s office by Wednesday, November 18, at 5 p.m.

Until the outstanding ballots are resolved, results are certified, and any requested recounts are completed, the Second Plymouth District race remains without a definitive winner.