Nikki Haley took Brookline in her quest for the White House but lost the state of Massachusetts to former president Donald Trump in Tuesday’s Republican primary.
The former South Carolina governor won 1,675 votes to Trump’s 647 in Brookline, a margin of 69% to 27%, with “no preference” and a few other fringe candidates making up the rest of the vote, according to unofficial results published by the town of Brookline.
On the Democratic side of the primary, President Joe Biden won 6,567 votes in Brookline, or 84%, with 775 votes or 10% for “no preference,” which peace activists in the state have been pushing as a protest vote against Biden’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war.
In-person turnout was low because of the rain, but the overall numbers were “buoyed by a large number of voters casting their ballots by mail,” said Town Clerk Ben Kaufman. As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, Kaufman said that 5,875 voters had cast their ballots by mail, with more coming in. In total, 10,303 people voted in Brookline, 26.3% of the total registered voters in town.
At the Precinct 17 polling place, the Coolidge Corner Library, election warden Barbara Sullivan said that as of the early afternoon, around 50 people had come to vote in person. Hundreds more in the precinct had voted via early voting and mail-in ballots, she said.
“Since we started early voting a few years ago, and with the addition of the mail-in vote, I’m seeing less people come in person, but more people voting,” Sullivan said.
Catherine Harris, 74, brought her great-grandchildren, 8-year-old twins Kensley and Karmelo, with her to her polling place at the Florida Ruffin Ridley School, where she voted for Biden.
“It’s very important that children learn at an early age about voting,” she said. “I’m showing them the history, where we’ve been. I’m showing them how to vote, who to vote for, why we vote. Tomorrow, it’s their turn. Who knows? These two little twins could be president and vice president.”
Harris said she isn’t concerned about Joe Biden’s age.
“Age is a number. I have my age now, and I know how I feel right now at the age of 74. I feel good. It’s within your mind, your body, and your soul. It’s what you can take on. I take on a lot.”
Elizabeth Childs, chair of the Brookline Republican Town Committee and a former congressional candidate, is a strong supporter of Haley and volunteered for her campaign in Massachusetts.
She said that a desire for a younger candidate, as well as Haley’s foreign policy experience, led her to support the former U.S. representative to the United Nations.
“I am the wife of a veteran and the mother of an active duty officer. I believe that peace in our world is dependent on the US being very strong militarily and using that strength wisely,” she said. “I was looking for an alternative, And for me, she was the one I thought was the most qualified of any Republican candidate.”
