Turnout was expected to be low for the race today, based on the number of absentee ballots requested. For background on the three Republican candidates running to be the GOP senate candidate, check out my Friday piece on the race:
Generally, state politicos see [Michael] Sullivan as the most conservative candidate of the three. Winslow is pro-choice, while Gomez, a political newbie, donated to President Obama’s campaign in 2008. In a January letter to Governor Deval Patrick, asking to be appointed as the replacement for John Kerry, Gomez wrote, “I supported President Obama in 2008.”
“I voted for John McCain in 2008, and I voted for Mitt Romney in 2012,” Gomez tells National Review Online. “I donated to Obama because a friend of mine went to law school [with Obama], and that was it. I’m a proud Republican . . . and have been all my life.” According to the Associated Press, Sullivan donated once to a Democratic candidate, while Winslow has made multiple donations (but says he has never donated to Democratic candidates in a race that included a Republican candidate).
Gomez also donated to one of the Democratic candidates during the primary in the special election to replace Ted Kennedy (which Scott Brown, of course, ultimately won).