RichardHowe.com – Voices from Lowell & Beyond

Election 2026: blue wave aided by red undertow by Marjorie Arons-Barron

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog.

Like soft laps on a sandy beach, election night began quietly.

7 p.m., CNN analysts are sifting early-reporting in Indiana and Kentucky congressional districts, looking for signs that might foreshadow voting trends. None mentioned that, hours before, the non-voting delegate seat from Guam has peacefully flipped from Red to Blue.

7:30 p.m. The gravitational pull shifts to Florida’s senate and gubernatorial races. MSNow’s Rachel Maddow gushes that Democratic Socialist Angie Nixon was the 2026 candidate she’d most like to have a beer with. Fox panelists sniff that Republicans could actually lose there.

7:35 p.m., the surf is picking up in Ohio and New Hampshire. 8 p.m., attention fixes on Georgia, where Jon Ossoff is already cruising.  In Texas, Talarico is outperforming Kamala Harris and Beto O’Rourke. Talarico’s aide audaciously says it may be an early night.

8:30 p.m., big splash. Heavily favored former North Carolina governor Roy Cooper takes the open Tom Tillis Senate seat. Fox notes that Democrats are running much stronger than pre-election forecasts. Between 9 and 10 p.m, it’s confirmed. Democrats will take back the House, the only unknown – by how much. Some boldly predict winning as many as 235-240 seats. Ohio, Texas and Kansas look promising. Ten p.m. the night’s first shocker. The Senate seat held by Darline Graham goes to Democrat Annie Andrews.

11 p.m., Talarico takes Texas; Sherrod Brown, Ohio; and Adam Hamilton swamps Roger Marshall in Kansas. Kansas of all places! The surges are stronger and stronger. Estimates for House flips rise. At 11:35 CNN announces what a year ago seemed a meteorological impossibility: Democrats have won a majority in the Senate. Fox blames high prices and weak candidates. No one blames Donald Trump – but he blames Fox.

I dozed off around midnight and woke with a start around 2 a.m. to discover that that Democrat Scott Colom was leading Cindy Hyde-Smith in the Senate race in Mississippi by 65 votes.

The talking heads and political consultants confirmed: it was a blue wave, no, a tsunami. It was a sea of blue – but also a red undertow, a self-destructive riptide in Republican circles that made the Democrats’ task easier.

Here are my thoughts, in no particular order.

The golden chutzpah award goes to Donald Trump. He implored his base countless times -reportedly at least 47 times – to close their eyes and pretend he was on the ballot. He acknowledged he was on the ballot. Late Tuesday night, he posted on Truth Social that, “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”  Clearly voters did regard him as on the ballot and forcefully repudiated him and his policies.

Schadenfreude. Watching smarmy Vivek Ramaswamy self-immolate in the Ohio governor’s race gave greatest pleasure, enhanced when learning that Amy Acton refused to take his concession call. Runner-up was Ken Paxton’s defeat in Texas. Other candidates for the equal justice awards: three star admiral Nancy Lacore– fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth–– winning a GOP seat in South Carolina. Or Zach Denbo resigning from the Justice Department over White House interference and flipping a seat in Kentucky. Or Montana Forest Service firefighter Sam Forstag’s success after being cut by DOGE. The sweetest here could be Scott Colom’s senate fight in Mississippi. Former president Biden nominated him to be a federal judge in the Northern District of Mississippi, but on his way to possibly defeating Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith, who blocked him from having a confirmation hearing. How sweet it may be.

$$$. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, poured $446 million of his own money (half in Texas) into this year’s midterm elections, mostly aimed at preserving the Republican Party’s control of Congress. (In contrast, Donald Trump, according to recent election filings, contributed zero dollars of his own money.) Money can’t buy everything!

DEI. It’s ironic Democrats stayed away from DEI issues during the campaign, but the election produced a series of historic firsts and greater diversity: first black House speaker; first openly gay and first Muslim US senators; 5 black governors; two states with their first Latino governors; first black female governor in the country; Native American women elected senator in Minnesota and governor of New Mexico. As pointed out in Political Wirehttps://politicalwire.com/2026/11/06/a-remarkable-milestone-in-american-politics/, for the first time in the nation’s history, none of the ten most populous states will have a white, non-Hispanic Christian man as governor.

Redistricting. So how’s that working for you, Donald? The President pressured leaders in red states to redraw congressional district lines in mid-decade to favor Republicans. His most promising target was Texas, whose gerrymandering was supposed to yield five additional seats. The effort to flip red failed in four. A Democrat also picked up a seat that was empty, meaning they have one more seat in the Lone Star State than they did before. When California responded by drawing lines to create five district favorable to Democrats, all five flipped to blue. Trump’s strategy was designed to yield 15 Republican seats. He got just three.

DSA. The two current members of the House who are Democratic Socialists (Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Rashid Tlaib) will be joined by six others (two from New York, one each from Colorado, Pennsylvania, Michigan and California). We can look at that as a 300 percent increase, or we can say they are just eight out of the 245 to 250 House Democrats and try to understand the energy they are generating in heavily blue districts, especially among younger voters. But that’s a blog for another day, along with answers to the question of Where Do We Go From Here.

There have been several polls over many months measuring unfavorable perceptions of the President’s mental acuity. Twenty-four hours after Tuesday’s election, Fox news poll released a poll confirming that 56 percent of Americans believe he is incompetent to run the government. Finally, an acknowledgment from the Donald Trump official news outlet that the tide has turned. Of course, Trump has two years left, in which he can do a lot of damage domestically and internationally, and the Democrats are still short of a veto-proof majority.

But for now, as the final votes are tallied, we can allow ourselves to be buoyed by the outcome. Not as partisans (I’m one of the plurality of independents.) But as people whose professed values have been violated every day with one Trump outrage after another. Let’s hope that serious minds prevail on both sides of the aisle, and that Donald Trump’s reign of terror is swamped by the enduring wave of history. What a wonderful way to celebrate our democracy’s 250th anniversary.

Lowell Politics: November 8, 2026

The stunning performance of Democratic candidates in the rest of the country in Tuesday’s midterm election has dominated the news. Still, there was also an election here in Massachusetts, so I’ll begin today’s newsletter with the results of the races beginning with our state legislators:

• State Senator
  • Vanna Howard (Dem) – 15,058 in Lowell; 27,422 in district
  • Sam Meas (Rep) – 4363 in Lowell; 12,435 in district
  • Joe Espinola (Unenrolled) – 2,612 in Lowell; 7072 in district
• State Representative – 16th Middlesex
  • Lorena Betts (Dem) – 4304 in Lowell; 7933 in district
  • Karla Miller (Rep) – 2020 in Lowell; 3693 in district
• State Representative – 17th Middlesex
  • John Drinkwater (Dem) – 7152 in Lowell; 8163 in district
  • No opponent
• State Representative (Dem) – 18th Middlesex
  • Tara Hong (Dem) – 5875
  • No opponent

Now back to the full ballot (showing major party candidates only):

• US Senate
  • Edward Markey (Dem) – 15,045 in Lowell; 1,632,326 (63%) statewide
  • John Deaton (Rep) – 5744 in Lowell; 826,552 (32%) statewide
• Governor & Lt Governor
  • Healey & Driscoll (Dem) – 15,019 in Lowell; 1,605,885 (62%) statewide
  • Minogue & Oliver (Rep) – 6249 in Lowell; 891,059 (34.5%) statewide
• Attorney General
  • Andrea Campbell (Dem) – 15,363 in Lowell; 1,674,279 (66%) statewide
  • Michael Walsh (Rep) – 6293 in Lowell; 877,110 (34%) statewide
• Secretary of State
  • William Galvin (Dem) – 16,774 in Lowell; 1,814,465 (71%) statewide
  • Anne Brensley (Rep) – 4906 in Lowell; 731,405 (29%) statewide
• Treasurer
  • Deborah Goldbert (Dem) – 15,229 in Lowell; 1,657,342 (66%) statewide
  • Elizabeth Dionne (Rep) – 6145 in Lowell; 856,022 (34%) statewide
• Auditor
  • Diana DiZoglio (Dem) – 17,599 in Lowell; 1,954,194 (84%) statewide
  • Al Ozonoff (Libertarian) – 2582 in Lowell; 376,706 (16%) statewide
• Representative in Congress
  • Lori Trahan (Dem) – 16,016 in Lowell; 167,849 (67%) districtwide
  • Gary Grossi (Rep) – 4856 in Lowell; 76,946 (31%) districtwide
• Governor’s Councillor (5th District)
  • Eunice Delice Zeigler (Dem) – 14,980 in Lowell; 196,222 (65%) districtwide
  • William Falcetano (Rep) – 5549 in Lowell; 108,060 (35%) districtwide
• District Attorney
  • Marian Ryan (Dem) – 17,647 in Lowell; x countywide
  • No opponent
• Register of Probate
  • Tara DeCristofaro (Dem) – 15,600 in Lowell; countywide TBD
  • Tara Martorella (Justice for All) – 3350 in Lowell; countywide TBD

Regional School Committee – Greater Lowell Regional School Committee candidates represent the city or town in which they reside but are elected district-wide. For this report, I only show the number of votes each candidate received in Lowell, not the entire district.

• Dracut
  • Matthew Seehan – 14,440 in Lowell
• Dunstable
  • No candidates
• Lowell (top two elected)
  • Ralph Hogan – 8818 in Lowell
  • Brady McCarron – 5694 in Lowell
  • Anthony Milisci – 3579 in Lowell
• Tyngsborough
  • Carol Chisolm – 12,149

Ballot Questions – There were nine questions on this year’s ballot. Below I’ve listed each by title with a short explanation followed by the winning response, the votes received in Lowell, and the statewide percentages:

Question 1 – Public Records – (make applicable to governor and legislature)

YES – 85.9% statewide; 17,549 votes in Lowell (85%)

NO – 14.1% statewide; 3154 votes in Lowell (15%)

Question 2 – Public Defenders Unionization – (allow or don’t allow to unionize)

              YES – 64.0% statewide; 14,440 votes in Lowell (71%)

              NO – 36.0% statewide; 6039 votes in Lowell (29%)

Question 3 – Combined Primary Elections – (all candidates from all parties run in a single primary with the top two advancing to the general election)

NO – 61.1% statewide; 12,681 votes in Lowell (58%)

YES – 38.9% statewide; 9382 votes in Lowell (42%)

Question 4 – Election Day Voter Registration – (allows registering to vote on day of election)

YES – 56.3% statewide; 13,996 votes in Lowell (64%)

NO – 43.7% statewide; 7920 votes in Lowell (36%)

Question 5 – Cap on State Revenue – (automatic rebates if tax collections exceed prior year per a formula)

NO – 52.0% statewide; 10,633 votes in Lowell (50.3%)

YES – 48.0% statewide; 10,524 votes in Lowell (49.7%)

Question 6 – Establish and Finance a “Nature for All Fund” – (existing taxes on recreational items devoted to nature conservation)

YES – 60.8% statewide; 14,169 votes in Lowell (65%)

NO – 39.2% statewide; 7659 votes in Lowell (35%)

Question 7 – Single family home minimum lot size – (single family home on 5000 square foot lots statewide)

TOO CLOSE TO CALL STATEWIDE

NO – 50.6% statewide; 8889 votes in Lowell (42%)

YES – 49.4% statewide; 12,470 votes in Lowell (58%)

Question 8 – Repeal legalization of marijuana – (YES would repeal marijuana legalization)

NO – 75.6% statewide; 16,003 votes in Lowell (74%)

YES – 24.4% statewide; 5563 votes in Lowell (26%)

Question 9 – Preserve the stricter gun control law passed by the legislature in 2024 – (yes retains the law; no repeals it)

YES – 67.1% statewide; 15,494 votes in Lowell (70%)

NO – 32.9% statewide; 6642 votes in Lowell (30%)

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At Tuesday’s Lowell City Council meeting, the council unanimously authorized the city manager to enter into a purchase and sales agreement for the entire property at 276 Broadway which includes the Lowell Senior Center. I’ve previously written about the Senior Center, the controversy over the city’s lease of the property and the recent agreement on purchasing the property, so this vote was a bit anti-climactic. Here’s the document that formed the basis of the council’s vote.

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Another matter that came before the council was the confirmation of a vote already taken by the council in executive session on October 6, 2026. The vote involved three things; all related to the Draper Labs development project in the Hamilton Canal District. Specifically, the vote included a Tax Increment Financing Agreement (TIF); the leasing of 100 parking spaces by Draper in the city’s Hamilton Canal District Parking Garage; and a Right of First Refusal by Draper on an adjacent lot now owned by the city. (The vote and the related agreements are on the city’s website).

When Mayor Erik Gitschier brought up this matter, Councilor Sean McDonough objected to the second reading of the vote which automatically delayed it to the next council meeting. After a brief exchange between Gitschier and McDonough which can be found at 11:56 of the video recording of this meeting, the council moved on to its next item of business.

McDonough cited Council Rule 27 as the procedural basis of this move. Here’s the text of that rule:

RULE 27 – STAGES OF LEGISLATION – All orders, votes, resolutions or ordinances of a legislative nature shall have two readings before final passage. The second reading shall be by title only, if at the same meeting as the first and if no member objects. For matters that require a public hearing, the second reading will not take place until after the public hearing has been held. (Emphasis supplied.)

The requirement for multiple “readings” of a matter proposed at a municipal meeting goes back to early England. Back then, bills before Parliament were handwritten so it was difficult for members to read them in advance of voting on them (and some members couldn’t read in the first place). So members would know what they were voting on, the clerk of Parliament would read the full text of a bill on three consecutive days so that everyone in attendance understood what was before the body.

Although we live in an age of near-universal literacy and proposals before government bodies are widely disseminated online, the procedural rule of multiple readings remains on the books and is more than an ancient artifact since it does give any one member of a legislative body – like the Lowell City Council – the power to slam on the brakes of the potential passage of a matter for whatever reason (or for no reason) that the objecting member desires.

However, in the more than 50 years I’ve been watching Lowell City Council meetings, it has been exceedingly rare for councilors to make use of this rule. I struggle to recall a half dozen times when a councilor objected in this manner, yet I believe this is the second time in his 10 months on the council that Councilor McDonough has utilized this tactic.

That said, McDonough is not alone in his norm breaking. Until just recently, the long-held practice of the Lowell City Council was not to place anything of substance on the agenda of a meeting that fell on the day of an election, whether city or state. Under our system, politics and governing operate hand-in-hand. On election night, it’s reasonable to assume that many who might otherwise participate in (or at least pay attention to) a municipal meeting would be focused on the election. A resident actively involved in the public life of the city should not be confronted with the zero-sum choice of campaigning for a preferred candidate or cause on election night or appearing at a municipal meeting to speak on an important topic.

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This week on richardhowe.com, Leo Racicot reminisced about the importance of the Lowell Sun in the life of the community.

In my Wednesday Seen & Heard column, I continued my coverage of the debate about whether more or fewer people are reading in the US today; I commented about a recently-released study on the high incidence of CTE among NFL players; and I noted that the Milwaukee Brewers won the World Series.

October Reflections

October Reflections

by Henri Marchand

Fall is little over a month old but well underway.  It officially began September 22 with the autumnal equinox, but for me fall began, as it always does, the first week of September, right after Labor Day.  After all, that’s when we return home from summer vacations and school traditionally re-opens.  And it just seems the more logical beginning of the season, making for a neat quarterly sectioning of the calendar—September, October, and November for fall; December, January and February for winter and so on.  Less than a month is sacrificed and except for the astronomical purists, who really worries about a couple of weeks or so?  Despite it being the start of school, autumn is my favorite season, October my favorite month.

In the cycle of the four seasons, fall is considered a time of decline and of final harvests but in many ways, it is also a time of new beginnings.  Except in school districts that have pilfered the final summer days of August, the season of learning and intellectual growth begins in earnest in September.  Come the week after Labor Day, new friends are made, new books discovered, new knowledge gained, and ageless sports rivalries are renewed.

A full schedule of cultural activities also begins in early fall.  Summer stock and outdoor concerts are pretty much over, but the traditional season of theatre, concerts and art exhibits begins in September, as does the new TV season.  In sports, there’s an overlap of seasons as the Boston Red Sox fade like garden annuals while the Patriots return to provide new hope to New England sports fans beginning the first weekend in September.  It is in autumn that Kerouac fans from around the world return to Lowell to honor the founder of a new literary expression.

November on the other hand, begins with the solemn honoring of the saints and seems a month of sudden stillness, of somber preparation for the long sleep of winter.  There are regular frosts and early snows might whiten the landscape, but mostly it’s the time when the last of the leaves, now matted brown and black, are gathered with iron rakes from lawns and swept from where they’ve huddled in windward corners and among low shrubs.  Oaks cling stubbornly to their leaves, rusting and rattling in chill winds.  Thanksgiving is a bright spot, arriving just in time to bid a final farewell to autumn and to officially kick off the holiday season, which now begins ever earlier and unofficially in late summer!  Thanksgiving is a day of feasting and spectacle, of traditions old and new—shared meals, the Macy’s Day Parade and the last of high school football.

But it is October that spellbinds and the month when autumn’s transformation seems suspended and most vibrant.  It is a month of mystery, acute in its effect on the senses.  First of all, the weather is perfect, especially so this year.  It is like a multi-colored May without the bugs.  Except for a late, short lived warm spell or an early flurry, the air cools to comfortable and the landscape glows with the saturated color of radiant foliage against blue sky and white clouds.  October ushers out the drift and drowse of August’s haze still loitering in September.  The Harvest Moon rises in early October when apples and the sweetest of corn are still being picked.  By month’s end Daylight Savings Time ends and lights come on at dinnertime when comfort foods make a return to the table and jack-o-lanterns stand guard by the front door.

Agricultural fairs like Topsfield remind us of New England’s rural past and of agricultural technology, fundamental but indispensable still.  Ancient rites converge with modern traditions on All Hallows Eve, in the fearful contemplation of the spirit world and the gleeful gathering of sweet tribute.

In memory, October is the month of endless after school pickup football games played until dark; of being showered by falling leaves; and of fireworks-like chrysanthemums bursting in a final garden display.  October stokes the imagination and conjures up images of Ichobod Crane being chased by the headless horseman.  In memory, October evokes Saturday mornings filled with sunlight flickering through jagged-edged elm leaves like candle flames, children’s voices blending with the tinny scratching of metal rakes on pavement; and the sweet incense of then legal leaf smoke rising from gutter fires.  In October memories, children gather fallen leaves, saving them from the fires, piling them higher and higher before diving headlong into the heap.

Jack Kerouac, who imagined a new American viewpoint but was acutely sensitive to his roots and home, wrote at the end of “Part I” in On the Road, “I was going home in October.  Everybody goes home in October.”  He might have been speaking not only of the literal journey home but of the metaphorical journey of memories, back from a wild summer season towards new beginnings and a time of reflection from the stable source of his inspiration.

Sun Up, Sun Down

Sun Up, Sun Down

By Leo Racicot

Part of the everyday fun of home life in the 1960s was having the city newspaper, The Lowell Sun, arrive afternoons around 3 or 4 o’clock. The paperboy would tuck our copy between the porch doors, safe from weather and wind. In those days, before the Internet, the glut of current television news channels like CNN, Fox NEWSMAX, etc.  long before news items would flash instantly on the computer screen mere seconds after they happened, the town or city newspaper was the only source of news, weather, sports people had.

My favorite paper day was The Sunday paper, usually bulkier than the daily one, filled with extra everything. I especially liked the Comics section, being able to follow the serial adventures of B.C., Johnny Hart’s satirical strip about cavemen, Chic Young’s Blondie featuring the title wife, her husband, Dagwood, his grumbling boss, Mr. Dithers. Other cartoons I always liked to follow: Beetle Bailey, The WIzard of Id and the one my friend, Priscilla and I still reminisce about, Walt Kelly’s beloved Pogo for its deluxe artwork, political satire, witty wordplay, and its humanist bent.

A column I always looked forward to was Charles Sampas’ long-running Sampascoopies, Running daily for nearly 40 years, it was far more than a typical news column; it was a mainstay capturing the distinct personality, neighborhood flavor, everyday rhythms of what Sampas lovingly dubbed Lowelltown. Filled with local politics and city shenanigans, bits of gossip, the occasional forays into the national and world scene, it became a part of Lowell chronicles for nearly four decades. On the other side of the journalistic spectrum was Sampas’s wife, Mary, whose columns also ran daily, at first under the pen name, Girl Friday then under a new pseudonym, Pertinax, which Sun owner. George Costello, suggested she use. Pertinax was the pen name used by the French journalist, Andre Geraud, and Mary preferred the mysterious quality the name conjured.  Her columns functioned as a mix of a traditional society page, lifestyle chronicles and civic commentary. Joe and I liked following her features, especially reading about the latest gossipy antics of her world traveling society pal, Cookie Vrouhas. One memorable quote of Cookie’s reaction to a trip she made to Rhodes an island off the coast of Greece, has stuck with us all these years later –  “All Rhodes is, is a ruin.” Clearly, Cookie was not impressed with Rhodes!

As movie lovers, Joe & I also kept a close eye on The Sun’s entertainment critic, William Sarmento. His glib, witty summaries of current films could get us chuckling, as when he tagged a new John Wayne movie, Rio Lobo with the caveat to audiences: RIO LOBO IS A REAL BORE-O. If he didn’t care for a movie, he was likely to warn readers, “Don’t forget to bring a retch bag with you to the theater.”  One could at times detect a touch of pretension behind his reviews. After all, he wasn’t Kenneth Tynan. Sarmento’s personal, quirky style of writing gave locals a peek into the cultural world beyond the confines of Lowell. And I loved the sketch of him accompanying his columns, his trademark bowtie and pork pie hat.

Modern day technological shifts in how people access the news led to the eventual downfall of the hardcopy newspaper. I think The Lowell Sun is still in operation but today’s generations much prefer having their news and culture delivered to them digitally, online, where they can see everything instantly with the click of a button. High production costs and a low readership have combined to make newspapers prohibitively expensive. This summer, deciding to treat myself to a Lowell Sunday Sun, I nearly fell over when the cashier girl rang up the price.

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Paperboy, 1960s

Charles Sampas

Mary Sampas column

Pogo

William Sarmento