Massachusetts state Rep. Carl Sciortino (D- 34th-Middlesex), a Tufts alum whose district includes parts of campus, won reelection comfortably yesterday in an uncontested vote.
Sciortino (LA ‘00) credited the easy victory to his "heavily Democratic" district, which covers all parts of campus located in Medford and the area west of Packard Avenue in Somerville.
Sciortino is now set to serve a third term. He said that the unusually high levels of energy swirling from the presidential election trickled down to local campaigns this year.
"I think that the national climate around the importance of voting and campaigning probably helped people get involved at the local level," Sciortino said. "I definitely witnessed a huge amount of energy in my [primary] campaign this September."
When asked last night who he supported in the presidential election, Sciortino replied, "Obama, of course."
He said that the senator's charisma and enthusiasm can pay real dividends. "We've had a really challenging eight years," he said, "and I think that the hope Obama brings is very real."
Although he had no competition yesterday, Sciortino defeated Democratic challenger Bob Trane, the president of Somerville's board of aldermen, in September after waging a write-in primary campaign.
Three referendum proposals were on the Massachusetts ballot yesterday, and Sciortino has proved a visionary on one of them. Question 3, which passed yesterday, will ban dog racing in the state. Sciortino reflected to the Daily on his unsuccessful bid to pass legislation in his first term eliminating the sport that many say promotes animal abuse.
"The racing industry is a very powerful lobby, so we weren't able to get that legislation through," he said.
Sciortino said that he is looking forward to his third term as a state representative.
"I was delighted to win the primary in September and am very excited and appreciative to serve for a third term," he said. "A lot of Tufts students were involved in my September primary campaign, and I'm very appreciative for all of their help."
