NEMASKET WEEK: Hewins pleasantly surprised with election results, Gaskey keeping ‘options open’
Hewins pleasantly surprised with election results, Gaskey keeping ‘options open’
MIDDLEBORO — When Sarah Hewins went to sleep in the early hours of Nov. 4, the Democrat trailed John Gaskey (R-Carver) heavily in the vote count. Gaskey, the incumbent state representative for the 2nd Plymouth district, won Carver and the district’s three Middleboro precincts.
When she woke up later that morning, Wareham results had been reported and she had taken the lead by 89 votes.
“If anyone ever doubted that every vote matters, this is evidence that it does,” Hewins said.
Hewins, who lives in Carver, had run for the seat in 2016 and 2018 and launched a late write-in campaign against Gaskey in 2024. She said she had tried not to get her hopes up too high but was pleasantly surprised with the results and thanked her team for their hard work in getting her across the finish line.
“It’s a tough district, I will say that,” she said. “And we certainly worked for it. It was a team effort.”
Assuming certified results confirm her victory, Hewins would be the first Democrat elected to the State House from the district since Ruth Provost, who served in the role from 1997 to 2003. Longtime Rep. Susan Gifford won the seat in the 2002 election and held it until 2024, when Gaskey defeated her in that year’s primary.
Gaskey declared victory in a Facebook post on Nov. 3 before the Wareham results were released. He has since deleted the post.
He did not say whether he would petition for a recount.
“We are watching the numbers and keeping our options open,” Gaskey wrote to Wareham Week. Candidates have until Nov. 13 to request a recount.
Hewins listed priorities she would bring to the State House in January: improving government transparency, lowering utility prices and giving towns more control. She also said she will pay attention to what her constituents need, something that she said has been missing for “a couple years.”
“The point is, people need someone to listen to them, and I plan to do a lot of listening,” Hewins said.
Hewins appears victorious with 89-vote margin in state rep race
With preliminary vote tallies reported at press time, Democrat Sarah Hewins appeared to be narrowly successful in her challenge of state Rep. John Gaskey (R-Carver).
In a district encompassing all of Wareham and Carver and a portion of south Middleboro, the incumbent Gaskey won the contest in both Carver and Middleboro. The arrival of the Wareham vote count at around 7 a.m. on Nov. 4 gave Hewins a lead of 89 votes.
In total, Hewins received 9,264 votes and Gaskey received 9,175.
Wareham appears to have given Hewins edge. She earned 5,274 votes in the town, while Gaskey got 4,548 votes.
In Carver, where both candidates are from, Gaskey won with 2,787 votes while Hewins received 2,573. Gaskey also won Middleboro by 13%, receiving 1,840 votes to Hewins’ 1,417.
The results have not yet been certified.
Gaskey declared victory in a Facebook post on the night of Nov. 3 before the Wareham results were released, but has since deleted the post.
This result marks the first time the district has elected a Democrat since 2000. Gaskey defeated former Rep. Susan Gifford (R-Wareham), who held the office from 2002 to 2024, in the 2024 Republican primary. He eventually beat Hewins, who launched a write-in campaign in response to his primary win.
Hewins, who has served on the Carver Select Board since 2009, ran on her long career in public service to claim the state representative seat. Ahead of the election, Hewins called herself an “independent-minded Democrat” supporting transparency in the state Legislature and combating high energy costs.
Before her 2024 write-in campaign, she ran against Gifford in 2016 and 2018, losing by over 10 points both times. But this time, she got her win.
Gaskey, who narrowly defeated Mark Townsend for the Republican nomination in the September primary, has pitched himself as an “anti-establishment” conservative, supporting an audit of the state Legislature, advocating for looser gun laws and criticizing state-enforced housing policies.
During his time in the state Legislature, Gaskey has also proposed several items related to transgender youth, including a proposal to ban transgender student athletes from playing on teams matching their gender identity and restrictions on youth access to gender-affirming surgeries and hormones.
Neither candidate was available for comment ahead of press time.
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