The polls are open as Election Day, 2014, has arrived. Voters in the Merrimack Valley and beyond are out casting their ballot choices in today’s statewide general elections. The governor’s race in Massachusetts is being called a statistical dead heat between Democrat candidate Martha Coakley and Republican challenger Charles D. Baker.
Merrimack Valley voters will decide local races for state senate, state representative, Governor’s Council, and U.S. House and Senate seats, among others. Topping the local races to track is the First Essex state senate race between first-term incumbent democrat Kathleen A. O’Connor-Ives of Newburyport, and Republican challenger, Haverhill School Committee member Shaun P. Toohey. The race is a rematch from the 2012 election.
Other election highlights include the race for Fifth District Governor’s Councilor. Haverhill School Committee member Maura L. Ryan-Ciardiello is the Republican challenger to incumbent Democrat Eileen R. Duff of Gloucester.
Polls are open until 8 p.m., tonight. At that time, WHAV delivers live local election results and reaction, as well as coverage of national races, including the battle for majority control of the U.S. Senate, from the Pacifica Network’s “Democracy Now.”