Results Are In: Howard Elected to State Senate

As expected, State Representative Vanna Howard emerged victorious Tuesday night, beating back challenges from Sam Meas and Joe Espinola to win the 1st Middlesex District State Senate Special Election in convincing fashion.

Beating her fellow State Rep. Rodney Elliott in the Democratic primary a month ago positioned Howard as the heavy favorite to fill the seat vacated by Ed Kennedy’s passing last October.

She didn’t disappoint, winning four of the five towns in the district when ballots had been counted.

Howard basically sealed the deal with a convincing victory in Lowell, garnering 2,519 votes to just 545 for Meas and 504 for Espinola. She also matched her primary performance by winning Dunstable, Pepperell and Tyngsboro.

Meas, the Republican candidate, finished second in those three towns, as he did in Lowell.

The Unenrolled candidate, Espinola, did carry his hometown of Dracut with 627 votes, compared to 485 for Howard and 450 for Meas.

Added together, the still unofficial results showed Howard amassig 4,276 votes. Meas placed second with 1,693 and Espinola  tallied 1,370.