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    • Republicans grow in Bristol County; wind energy woes
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    Republicans grow in Bristol County; wind energy woes

    Pabio Posted on

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    The 2024 election has taken bizarre turns unlike any other in American history.

    It started as a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. While both camps fear that the increasingly fragile Biden will be unable to mount a campaign, the party swerved to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris instead. Trump was convicted of 34 crimes And almost murdered. He accepted support from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who admitted want to eat, then throw a carcass of a killed bear on the road. And neither side seemed sure how to handle American reaction to the Israeli war in Gaza.

    Now that this episode is over, let’s zoom in on Bristol County, which has its own problems. Here are five takeaways from the evening.

    2024 election results: The next morning, Greater Fall River calculates wins and losses

    Bristol County is getting redder – or is it less blue?

    Recent elections have seen Bristol County lean more and more toward the Republican Party. As of Wednesday evening, with almost all votes counted, Trump and Harris are almost tied, with 129,826 votes for Harris and 129,813 for Trump – I’ll spare you the math, that’s 13 votes difference.

    In fact, the Republican share of the vote in Bristol County has increased in every presidential election since 1996. But the Democratic share has stayed more or less the same — although there were clear declines when Hillary Clinton and Harris ran. presented.

    To sharply contrast Republican growth and Democratic stagnation:

    In the 1996 election, Republican Bob Dole won just over 47,000 Republican votes, while Democrat Bill Clinton won over 127,000. This means that this year the Republican share of the presidential vote increased by 174%, while the Democratic share of the vote increased by 1.5%.

    Bristol County’s overall population increased by approximately 11% during this period.

    Are more Republicans feeling activated in Bristol County? Isn’t the Democratic Party activating voters?

    Bristol County Republican Voters Make an Impact

    These active Republican voters are making their presence felt. Bristol County was one of only two counties that went for Republican Senate candidate John Deaton over incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Warren – 50.5% to 49.5%, barely but enough to count, and Deaton’s greatest source of support.

    Bristol’s 5th District had since 2001 been a seat held by state Rep. Patricia Haddad, a self-described moderate Democrat. It was taken by Justin Thurber, a Republican who previously challenged her in 2022 and campaigned in part on concerns about immigration.

    How Trump won the White House (again): These key questions propelled election victory

    Voters in Bristol’s 8th District, held since 2011 by retired Democrat Paul Schmid, very close to being elected Republican Christopher Thrasher, who even beat the winner, Democrat Steven Ouellette, in Ouellette’s own neighborhood.

    Further north, in Bristol County, incumbent Democratic Senator Marc Pacheco’s seat will be occupied by Taunton Republican City Council, Kelly Dooner.

    And in Fall River, a typically Democratic town, Trump led Harris 50.7% to 47.7%.

    SouthCoast to have freshmen in state Legislature

    The South Coast will send several new faces to Beacon Hill in January: Thurber, Ouellette, Dooner and Democrat Mark Sylvia, who will fill incumbent State Rep. William Straus’s seat.

    They replace representatives who spent many years in the Legislature and built lasting relationships there — Straus has been a state representative since 1993, and Pacheco has held statewide elected office since 1989. This generation of first-year students will it be able to keep its promises? the South Coast during this next term?

    Bristol County votes to deny Uber drivers union rights

    The question of whether to grant Uber and Lyft drivers the right to unionize passed statewide — but Bristol County was one of only three counties in the state where voters rejected the idea.

    On-demand work “not like before”: Do SouthCoast Uber drivers need a union? Rideshare drivers say it

    It was close, but a slim majority, 50.2% of voters, said rideshare drivers should not be able to unionize.

    The ride-sharing issue has received the most support in Suffolk County, in the Boston metropolitan area, where ride-sharing use is more widespread.

    What will happen with SouthCoast wind energy projects?

    Trump’s inauguration in January could call into question the future of the offshore wind industry. The former and future president has long fiercely opposed wind energy projects, saying they kill whales and birds and promising to stop the projects “on day one.”

    The south coast, in particular New Bedford And Somersettakes advantage of its proximity to the wind farms of the Atlantic Ocean to make wind energy A key element of the local economy: shipping, assembly, maintenance and electrical transmission. What would a second Trump presidency mean for these projects – and for the jobs and money invested so far?

    Pabio
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