Wicked Local, MA
Oct 16 2013
Koutoujian easily takes Waltham, but Clark, Addivinola win primaries
By Eli Sherman
Wicked Local Waltham
WALTHAM – Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian easily took his hometown
of Waltham in the Fifth Congressional District primary but state Sen.
Katherine Clark of Melrose beat him and five others for the Democrat
nomination, while Frank Addivinola of Boston won the Republican nod.
Koutoujian was met with a burst of applause as he entered the ballroom
at his post-election party at the Westin Hotel in Waltham. Koutoujian
told some teary-eyed supporters not to cry because they, as a team,
ran a great campaign.
`We did everything we could and that’s something that we should be
proud of because whenever you take on any endeavor you should never
ever regret it,’ Koutoujian said. `The end result wasn’t what we
wanted, but never will we look back and think we should have done
something more.’
Supporters were disappointed after Koutoujian’s concession speech, as
many thought he had the votes to win. Waltham resident Keith Whitmore
said he really thought Koutoujian would pull it off.
“I was totally shocked,” Whitmore said. “Peter has always run great
campaigns and I thought he was well-known enough through Middlesex
County. … Maybe some people thought the same and didn’t get to the
voting booth.”
Turnout was 19 percent, and 4,148 of 5,622 total Democrat voters went
for Koutoujian.
Waltham City Clerk Russ Malone predicted early in the day that about
30 percent of the city’s voters would come out for the congressional
primary.
`I figured it would be a little bit higher. … Waltham voters are
passionate when they come out,’ Malone said. `We also had a hometown
guy.’
Still, it was more than the 16.9 percent who showed up for the special
U.S. Senate primary election in April. Ed Markey eventually won that
special election, opening up his U.S. House seat in the Fifth
District.
The general election for the Fifth District seat, between Clark and
Addivinola, is Dec. 10.
Earlier on Election Day, Waltham resident Jennifer Patton cast her
ballot at precinct 7-1 at about 4:30 p.m. and said that although it
was a good group of candidates, she voted for Koutoujian.
`I just think that he is the best person for the job,’ Patton said.
`It was a really competitive field, but Peter is the best person to go
represent us down in Washington.’
Councilor at-large Kenneth Doucette, who works for Koutoujian in the
Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office, said he voted for Koutoujian
because he sees his leadership skills from their work together.
`He responds to constituents and other elected officials,’ Doucette
said. `I’ve seen him in meetings and he’s a great leader and I truly
believe he can go to Washington and work with both sides of the
aisle.’
The Democrat results, according to the City Clerk’s Office, were:
-William Brownsberger: 155
-Katherine Clark: 657
-Peter Koutoujian: 4,148
-Martin Long: 20
-Paul John Maisano: 37
-Carl Sciortino: 433
-Karen Spilka: 172
The Republican results were:
-Frank Addivinola: 392
-Michael Stopa: 129
-Tom Tierney: 289