Updated: Tri-Town supports Old Rochester school committee member in state primary

Tri-Town Republicans overwhelmingly supported Old Rochester Regional School Committee member Joe Pires to be the party’s candidate in the race to elect a new representative for the 10th Bristol district for the first time in more than three decades. 

Pires, a Rochester resident, faced Fairhaven resident Robert McConnell, chair of the Fairhaven Republican Town Committee, in the state primary elections Tuesday, Sept. 3.

Pires received about 77% of votes in Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester and 73% of total district votes, according to unofficial results. The 10th Bristol district also includes Fairhaven and parts of Acushnet and New Bedford.

About 90% of Republican votes in Rochester went to Pires, according to unofficial results.

Pires will face Fairhaven resident Mark Sylvia for the State House seat in the November general election. Sylvia, Fairhaven’s town meeting moderator, ran unopposed on the Democratic ballot.

For more than 30 years, Democrat Bill Straus, of Mattapoisett, has served as the 10th Bristol district representative. He announced earlier this year he would not seek reelection, spurring the candidacies of Pires, McConnell and Sylvia. 

Tri-Town voters also cast their ballots in other contested primaries.

In Marion, voters favored Joseph Pacheco, a Raynham Select Board member, over Taunton City Councilor Barry Sanders in the Democratic primary for 3rd Bristol and Plymouth state senator.

Pacheco received more than 62% of the Marion vote, according to unofficial results.

The 3rd Bristol and Plymouth state senate seat has been filled by Sen. Marc Pacheco, no relation to Joseph Pacheco, for 32 years, making him the longest serving state senator in Massachusetts. 

Like Straus, Marc Pacheco announced earlier this year he would not seek reelection. 

In addition to Marion, the 3rd Bristol and Plymouth district includes Taunton, Berkley, Dighton, Raynham, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Carver, Middleborough and Wareham. 

Joseph Pacheco will face Republican Kelly Dooner and independent Jim DuPont in the general election.

In Mattapoisett, voters clearly supported incumbent Sen. Mark C. Montigny against New Bedford resident Molly Kivi for the Democratic nomination for 2nd Bristol and Plymouth state senator.

Montigny has served in the seat for 16 terms and received nearly 80% of the Mattapoisett vote, according to unofficial results.

He will run unopposed in the general election, though Kivi said she would run a write-in campaign in November.

The 2nd Bristol and Plymouth district includes New Bedford, Acushnet, Dartmouth and Fairhaven, in addition to Mattapoisett.

Voter turnout across the Tri-Town hovered above 20%.

In Marion, 23% of voters cast ballots. In Mattapoisett, that figure was 24% and in Rochester, 21%.

Early Tuesday afternoon, Rochester Town Clerk Marjorie Barrows said turnout had been “not bad,” though surely not like how it would be in November.

In Mattapoisett, Town Clerk Catherine Heuberger said it had been “pretty quiet” as of half past noon.

And in Marion at 1 p.m., Town Clerk Lissa Magauran said voter turnout had a “slow start.”