How the South Coast voted: about a quarter fewer ballots than 2024, and Deaton's share down in all 17 communities
Four communities changed leaders at the top of the ballot, Deaton's Senate share fell across the region, and most towns voted no on Election Day registration.
SOUTH COAST Updated 3:57 p.m. Nov. 4, 2026.
South Coast voters cast about a quarter fewer ballots on Nov. 3 than in the 2024 presidential election, and U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton drew a smaller share than two years ago in all 17 communities.
Every 2026 figure here is unofficial. For 12 of the 17 communities the figures come from the results each town or city posted or its clerk sent to news outlets. Rochester's are the uncertified results the town clerk's office posted on the town's official Facebook page Wednesday morning, Nov. 4. The other four, Acushnet, Fall River, Marion and Rehoboth, come from unofficial results from The Associated Press via WBUR, as of 3:46 p.m. Wednesday. The 2024 figures are the certified returns from the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
Turnout
The 13 communities that released full ballot counts cast 149,568 ballots this year, down 23.8% from 196,358 in 2024, and each of the 13 cast fewer than two years ago. Mattapoisett dropped the least, 17.1%, to 4,115 ballots, followed by Rochester at 17.8%. New Bedford and Taunton dropped the most, 28.5% each. New Bedford cast 24,983 ballots, down from 34,936, and Taunton cast 19,524, down from 27,297. Plymouth again cast the most ballots in the region, 32,225, down 21.1%.
Seven of those communities printed their registered voters with the results. Rochester's turnout was the highest, 67.6% of 4,905 registered voters, followed by Plymouth's 58.6% of 54,960, Fairhaven's 56.6% of 13,888, Freetown's 55.7% of 7,829 and Somerset's 55.2% of 15,468. Taunton's was 41.9% of 46,605 and New Bedford's was 32.6% of 76,673.
To compare all 17, this story also uses the votes for the two leading U.S. Senate candidates, a race with the same Republican on the ballot both years. By that measure the drop ran from 18.9% in Mattapoisett to 34.1% in Fall River. Fall River's figure will change: the city counts its outstanding absentee and early voted ballots Saturday.
The comparison sets a state election with no presidential race on the ballot beside a presidential election. The percentages are our own math from the 2024 certified returns and the 2026 unofficial counts.
| Community | 2024 ballots | 2026 ballots | Change | 2026 turnout | 2024 Senate votes | 2026 Senate votes | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acushnet (AP) | 6,271 | Not posted | 6,080 | 4,445 | down 26.9% | ||
| Dartmouth | 18,549 | 14,356 | down 22.6% | Not printed | 17,943 | 13,609 | down 24.2% |
| Dighton | 4,875 | 3,717 | down 23.8% | Not printed | 4,697 | 3,494 | down 25.6% |
| Fairhaven | 9,628 | 7,857 | down 18.4% | 56.6% | 9,339 | 7,105 | down 23.9% |
| Fall River (AP) | 30,806 | Not posted | 29,302 | 19,317 | down 34.1% | ||
| Freetown | 5,587 | 4,360 | down 22.0% | 55.7% | 5,399 | 4,090 | down 24.2% |
| Marion (AP) | 3,680 | Not posted | 3,604 | 2,803 | down 22.2% | ||
| Mattapoisett | 4,961 | 4,115 | down 17.1% | Not printed | 4,870 | 3,952 | down 18.9% |
| New Bedford | 34,936 | 24,983 | down 28.5% | 32.6% | 33,535 | 23,181 | down 30.9% |
| Plymouth | 40,835 | 32,225 | down 21.1% | 58.6% | 39,996 | 30,471 | down 23.8% |
| Rehoboth (AP) | 8,179 | Not posted | 7,974 | 5,738 | down 28.0% | ||
| Rochester (uncertified) | 4,033 | 3,315 | down 17.8% | 67.6% | 3,945 | 3,177 | down 19.5% |
| Somerset | 11,131 | 8,532 | down 23.3% | 55.2% | 10,833 | 8,068 | down 25.5% |
| Swansea | 10,388 | 7,795 | down 25.0% | Not printed | 10,107 | 7,338 | down 27.4% |
| Taunton | 27,297 | 19,524 | down 28.5% | 41.9% | 26,093 | 18,165 | down 30.4% |
| Wareham | 13,229 | 10,281 | down 22.3% | Not printed | 12,902 | 9,674 | down 25.0% |
| Westport | 10,909 | 8,508 | down 22.0% | Not printed | 10,534 | 8,029 | down 23.8% |
The top of the ballot
Democratic Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kimberley Driscoll led in eight of the 17 communities: Fall River, Marion, Mattapoisett, New Bedford, Plymouth, Somerset, Taunton and Wareham. Republican Michael Minogue and his running mate, New Bedford City Councilor Shawn Oliver, led in the other nine: Acushnet, Dartmouth, Dighton, Fairhaven, Freetown, Rehoboth, Rochester, Swansea and Westport. The governor counts for Acushnet, Fall River, Marion and Rehoboth are AP's, since those towns' own files were not available to us.
Oliver's name stayed on the ballot after the Minogue campaign said in October that he had left the race (our earlier story).
Four communities had a different leader at the top of the ballot than two years ago. Fall River backed Donald Trump for president in 2024 by 504 votes and backed Healey this year by 1,625, by AP's count. Somerset backed Trump by 430 votes and Healey by 13, the closest governor result in the region. Dartmouth and Fairhaven went the other way. Dartmouth went from Kamala Harris by 60 votes in 2024 to Minogue by 150, and Fairhaven went from Harris by 173 to Minogue by 34.
Measured as a share of the votes for the two leading candidates, Minogue ran 5 points behind Trump's 2024 share in Fall River, by AP's count, and 3.5 points behind it in New Bedford. He ran furthest ahead of Trump's share in Rochester, by 3.3 points, and 1.9 points ahead in Mattapoisett. AP's counts for Acushnet and Marion show him 2.1 and 1.9 points ahead of Trump's share, figures that await the towns' own files. In the other communities the two shares were within 2.2 points of each other.
| Community | 2024 president | 2026 governor | 2024 Senate | 2026 Senate | Deaton change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acushnet (AP) | Harris 37.8, Trump 62.2 | Healey 35.7, Minogue 64.3 | Warren 37.9, Deaton 62.1 | Markey 42.5, Deaton 57.5 | down 4.6 points |
| Dartmouth | Harris 50.2, Trump 49.8 | Healey 49.5, Minogue 50.5 | Warren 48.7, Deaton 51.3 | Markey 56.0, Deaton 44.0 | down 7.2 points |
| Dighton | Harris 40.5, Trump 59.5 | Healey 41.3, Minogue 58.7 | Warren 37.8, Deaton 62.2 | Markey 45.2, Deaton 54.8 | down 7.4 points |
| Fairhaven | Harris 50.9, Trump 49.1 | Healey 49.8, Minogue 50.2 | Warren 49.2, Deaton 50.8 | Markey 55.7, Deaton 44.3 | down 6.4 points |
| Fall River (AP) | Harris 49.2, Trump 50.8 | Healey 54.1, Minogue 45.9 | Warren 52.2, Deaton 47.8 | Markey 58.9, Deaton 41.1 | down 6.7 points |
| Freetown | Harris 41.3, Trump 58.7 | Healey 40.4, Minogue 59.6 | Warren 39.7, Deaton 60.3 | Markey 45.4, Deaton 54.6 | down 5.6 points |
| Marion (AP) | Harris 63.1, Trump 36.9 | Healey 61.2, Minogue 38.8 | Warren 56.8, Deaton 43.2 | Markey 62.7, Deaton 37.3 | down 5.9 points |
| Mattapoisett | Harris 56.9, Trump 43.1 | Healey 55.0, Minogue 45.0 | Warren 51.3, Deaton 48.7 | Markey 57.5, Deaton 42.5 | down 6.2 points |
| New Bedford | Harris 54.2, Trump 45.8 | Healey 57.7, Minogue 42.3 | Warren 57.1, Deaton 42.9 | Markey 64.2, Deaton 35.8 | down 7.1 points |
| Plymouth | Harris 54.8, Trump 45.2 | Healey 54.4, Minogue 45.6 | Warren 49.4, Deaton 50.6 | Markey 56.8, Deaton 43.2 | down 7.4 points |
| Rehoboth (AP) | Harris 43.4, Trump 56.6 | Healey 45.1, Minogue 54.9 | Warren 40.0, Deaton 60.0 | Markey 47.5, Deaton 52.5 | down 7.5 points |
| Rochester (uncertified) | Harris 42.8, Trump 57.2 | Healey 39.6, Minogue 60.4 | Warren 37.1, Deaton 62.9 | Markey 43.8, Deaton 56.2 | down 6.7 points |
| Somerset | Harris 48.0, Trump 52.0 | Healey 50.1, Minogue 49.9 | Warren 46.9, Deaton 53.1 | Markey 54.5, Deaton 45.5 | down 7.6 points |
| Swansea | Harris 43.4, Trump 56.6 | Healey 44.8, Minogue 55.2 | Warren 41.3, Deaton 58.7 | Markey 49.3, Deaton 50.7 | down 8.0 points |
| Taunton | Harris 51.4, Trump 48.6 | Healey 53.6, Minogue 46.4 | Warren 51.2, Deaton 48.8 | Markey 57.5, Deaton 42.5 | down 6.3 points |
| Wareham | Harris 50.8, Trump 49.2 | Healey 52.1, Minogue 47.9 | Warren 48.3, Deaton 51.7 | Markey 55.0, Deaton 45.0 | down 6.7 points |
| Westport | Harris 46.7, Trump 53.3 | Healey 48.0, Minogue 52.0 | Warren 45.8, Deaton 54.2 | Markey 52.2, Deaton 47.8 | down 6.4 points |
The Senate race, two years apart
Deaton, a Republican, ran for the U.S. Senate in both elections, against Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren in 2024 and Democratic Sen. Edward J. Markey this year. That makes his results the closest direct comparison between the two years. His share of the two-candidate vote fell in all 17 communities. Among the 13 with town counts, it fell by 5.6 points in Freetown at the low end and by 8.0 points in Swansea at the high end. AP's count for Acushnet shows the smallest drop in the region, 4.6 points.
In 2024 Deaton led in 12 of the 17 communities. This year he led in six: Acushnet, Dighton, Freetown, Rehoboth, Rochester and Swansea. Markey carried Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Plymouth, Somerset, Wareham and Westport, all of which Deaton won two years ago. Statewide, AP had Markey with 63.2% of the Senate vote and Deaton with 32.3%, with 90.4% of precincts reporting.
This year's Senate ballot also carried Shiva Ayyadurai and Joe Tache. In the 13 communities with full ballot counts, the two together drew 2.5% of the Senate ballots in Mattapoisett and 5.2% in New Bedford, with the rest in between.
Split tickets
Dartmouth, Fairhaven and Westport backed Minogue for governor and the incumbents for the Senate and the U.S. House. Dartmouth gave Minogue a 150-vote lead while backing Markey by 1,627 votes and U.S. Rep. Bill Keating by 1,592. Fairhaven backed Minogue by 34 votes, Markey by 809 and Keating by 800, and Westport backed Minogue by 325, Markey by 349 and Keating by 432. Somerset was close only at the top: Healey's 13-vote lead sat beside a 726-vote lead for Markey and a 1,182-vote lead for U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss.
Freetown and Dighton backed Minogue, Deaton and Thomas Stalcup, who challenged Auchincloss. Both also backed the challengers to Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg. The secretary of state race was close in each: Secretary of State William Francis Galvin led Anne R. Brensley by 47 votes in Freetown, and Brensley led Galvin by 11 votes in Dighton, according to the town counts.
Rochester backed Minogue, Deaton and R. Tyler MacAllister, who challenged Keating and led him there by 316 votes. It also backed the challengers for attorney general and treasurer, and Brensley led Galvin there by 58. Swansea backed Minogue and Deaton and the challengers for attorney general and treasurer, but gave Auchincloss a 276-vote lead over Stalcup and Galvin a 310-vote lead over Brensley.
Ticket splitting was common two years ago too. In 2024, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Plymouth and Wareham gave Harris more votes than Trump and gave Deaton more votes than Warren. Fall River did the reverse, backing Trump by 504 votes and Warren by 1,264.
The ballot questions
The 2026 ballot carried nine statewide questions, none of them the same as the five on the 2024 ballot, so they are compared here with the statewide result rather than with two years ago. AP called Questions 1, 2, 4, 6 and 9 for yes and Questions 3 and 8 for no. Questions 5 and 7 had not been called as of 3:46 p.m. Wednesday, with the no side ahead on both, 52% to 48% on Question 5 and 50.6% to 49.4% on Question 7.
South Coast voters went with the statewide result on Questions 1, 3 and 8 in every community. Election Day voter registration, Question 4, was the widest gap: it passed statewide with 56.3% yes, but 14 of the 17 communities voted no. Fall River, Marion and New Bedford voted yes. Question 5, the tax revenue limit, ran the other way. It trailed statewide, yet 15 communities voted yes, all but Marion and Mattapoisett.
Question 9, on the 2024 state gun law, passed with 66.9% yes statewide, while Acushnet, Dighton, Freetown, Rehoboth and Rochester voted no. Dighton and Rehoboth voted no on Question 2, on public defenders, and Acushnet and Rochester voted no on Question 6, the conservation fund. New Bedford was the only community to vote yes on Question 7, on smaller house lots, at 53.1%.
| Community | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Q5 | Q6 | Q7 | Q8 | Q9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acushnet (AP) | 84.7% | Left out | 37.3% | 36.8% | 59.9% | 44.9% | 34.8% | 27.2% | 39.3% |
| Dartmouth | 84.9% | 54.1% | 38.8% | 44.9% | 53.7% | 52.4% | 33.7% | 27.2% | 55.2% |
| Dighton | 85.6% | 48.5% | 36.8% | 39.8% | 58.0% | 50.1% | 29.4% | 24.1% | 45.5% |
| Fairhaven | 86.2% | 56.9% | 38.3% | 45.4% | 53.3% | 54.3% | 44.0% | 24.3% | 53.1% |
| Fall River (AP) | 79.0% | 57.5% | 42.9% | 50.3% | 56.1% | 53.4% | 46.6% | 27.9% | 56.3% |
| Freetown | 86.3% | 52.7% | 40.0% | 39.2% | 57.6% | 51.6% | 31.8% | 25.7% | 45.5% |
| Marion (AP) | 85.9% | Left out | 38.1% | 50.5% | 48.7% | 57.8% | 42.3% | 24.4% | 65.1% |
| Mattapoisett | 87.2% | 55.9% | 35.4% | 45.5% | 49.6% | 55.4% | 42.6% | 25.4% | 59.7% |
| New Bedford | 81.6% | 63.0% | 41.1% | 53.3% | 54.6% | 56.5% | 53.1% | 25.5% | 57.5% |
| Plymouth | 87.1% | 58.3% | 39.4% | 46.7% | 52.4% | 56.4% | 42.3% | 22.1% | 60.5% |
| Rehoboth (AP) | 83.0% | 49.2% | 38.7% | 41.4% | 55.5% | 53.9% | 25.1% | 29.0% | 49.8% |
| Rochester (uncertified) | 88.4% | 50.6% | 32.7% | 37.1% | 56.5% | 48.6% | 25.3% | 26.7% | 41.7% |
| Somerset | 82.2% | 54.6% | 39.7% | 45.1% | 54.7% | 51.2% | 40.0% | 24.6% | 54.8% |
| Swansea | 81.4% | 51.4% | 41.1% | 43.6% | 57.7% | 53.1% | 34.1% | 26.3% | 54.1% |
| Taunton | 83.5% | 59.1% | 41.8% | 48.3% | 56.0% | 57.3% | 41.5% | 25.5% | 52.7% |
| Wareham | 85.4% | 59.1% | 42.7% | 45.9% | 54.8% | 57.8% | 45.9% | 21.5% | 51.9% |
| Westport | 82.6% | 50.6% | 38.2% | 42.3% | 52.2% | 50.7% | 31.7% | 27.3% | 51.5% |
| Statewide (AP) | 85.9% | 64.0% | 38.9% | 56.3% | 48.0% | 60.8% | 49.4% | 24.4% | 66.9% |
Figures left out or replaced
AP's Question 2 counts for Acushnet and Marion showed far fewer votes than every other question in those towns, so this story leaves them out until the towns post their own counts. AP's Fairhaven governor count, as read at 1:18 p.m. Wednesday, had 3,591 votes under Healey's name and 291 under Minogue's, the totals the town's own file gives Minogue and the third ticket on the ballot, James and Kittredge. This story uses Fairhaven's file, and AP's 3:46 p.m. count matches it.
How we compared
Ballots cast in 2026 are every ballot counted in the governor's race, blanks included, from the town and city files. Fairhaven and Rochester print no blank counts, so their figure is the total number of voters each town printed. Ballots cast in 2024 are the Secretary of the Commonwealth's total votes cast in the presidential race. Turnout is ballots cast divided by the registered voters each community printed. Shares in the top of the ballot table are of the votes for the two leading candidates, so they line up between the town files and AP, which reports the leading candidates. Westport's clerk labeled the town's tally preliminary and said it does not include provisional ballots. Plymouth's posted count does not include write-ins, hand counts, overseas and military ballots or provisional ballots, and Wareham's file is labeled preliminary. Swansea's file notes that its unofficial results "will not account for hand count totals and mailing post mark deadlines," and it prints Questions 8 and 9 on 7,774 ballots, 21 fewer than its other races. Dighton's figures come from the clerk's emailed results. Where AP's count differs from a town's own figures, this story uses the town's: AP shows 10 more votes for Markey in Dighton, one more in Fairhaven and 10 more no votes on Question 3 in Swansea. Question shares leave out blank ballots. Freetown's file lists 4,397 votes cast and 56% turnout at the top, 37 more than the 4,360 ballots counted in each of its races; this story uses the race totals.
Plymouth, New Bedford and Taunton used two ballot cards per voter, and the ballot totals they print count each card, so those totals run about double the ballot counts here. Taunton's summary prints 39,094 ballot cards and no turnout figure. The city says turnout will be roughly half its card count, not exactly half, because some mailed ballots may not contain both cards, and that it will release official turnout later. This story counts the 19,524 ballots in Taunton's governor race, the votes on the city's summary plus the blank votes on its 18 precinct reports, the same total as its Senate race. Changes in points and percentages are figured before rounding.
What happens next
More ballots are still to be counted. Freetown counts its late mail ballots at 5:05 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, and Fall River counts outstanding absentee and early voted ballots at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7 (details here). Taunton holds its post-election tabulation at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, and is to certify its results by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18. Every 2026 figure here will be checked against the certified results.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every 2024 figure comes from the Secretary of the Commonwealth's certified returns. Every 2026 figure comes from the unofficial results the town or city posted or its clerk sent, Rochester's uncertified results from the town's official Facebook page, or, for Acushnet, Fall River, Marion and Rehoboth, from AP results published by WBUR, all listed below. We read them on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4 and compared every AP town figure with the town files where both exist; where they differ, we use the town's figure. Every percentage and change is our own math. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (18)
- Secretary of the Commonwealth, 2024 President, results by city and townCertified 2024 returns, CSV download. Read Nov. 4, 2026.
- Secretary of the Commonwealth, 2024 U.S. Senate, results by city and townCertified 2024 returns, CSV download. Read Nov. 4, 2026.
- Secretary of the Commonwealth, 2024 U.S. House, 9th District, results by townRead Nov. 4, 2026.
- Secretary of the Commonwealth, 2024 U.S. House, 4th District, results by townRead Nov. 4, 2026.
- Unofficial results, The Associated Press via WBUR: governor, U.S. Senate and Questions 1 to 9 by townAs of 3:46 p.m. Nov. 4, 2026 (90.4% of precincts statewide). Read Nov. 4, 2026.
- Town of Dartmouth, 2026 state election unofficial resultsPosted Nov. 4, 2026. Read Nov. 4, 2026.
- Dighton Town Clerk, state election unofficial results (spreadsheet sent to news outlets)Sent Nov. 4, 2026, 5:13 a.m. Read Nov. 4, 2026.
- Town of Fairhaven, updated unofficial state election results, Nov. 3, 2026Posted Nov. 4, 2026, 11:31 a.m. Read Nov. 4, 2026.
- Town of Freetown, unofficial results, 2026 state electionPosted Nov. 3, 2026, 9:02 p.m. Read Nov. 3, 2026.
- Town of Mattapoisett, state election unofficial totals combinedPosted Nov. 3, 2026. Read Nov. 4, 2026.
- New Bedford Board of Election Commissioners, unofficial resultsPosted Nov. 3, 2026, 9:41 p.m. Read Nov. 3, 2026.
- Town of Plymouth, unofficial state election resultsPosted Nov. 4, 2026. Read Nov. 4, 2026.
- Town of Rochester, official Facebook page: uncertified election results from the Town Clerk's OfficePosted Nov. 4, 2026, 10:02 a.m. Read Nov. 4, 2026.
- Town of Somerset, Nov. 3, 2026 state election unofficial resultsRead Nov. 4, 2026.
- Town of Swansea, unofficial results, state election, Nov. 3, 2026Scanned file dated Nov. 4, 2026, 1:29 p.m., linked from the town's news post. Read Nov. 4, 2026.
- City of Taunton, Nov. 3, 2026 state election unofficial resultsPosted Nov. 4, 2026. Read Nov. 4, 2026.
- Town of Wareham, 2026 state election results, preliminaryPosted Nov. 4, 2026. Read Nov. 4, 2026.
- Westport Town Clerk, unofficial preliminary results sent to news outlets (provisional ballots not included)Sent Nov. 4, 2026, 3:37 a.m. Read Nov. 4, 2026.