WESTERN MASS. – A week after the 2022 Massachusetts election, Reminder Publishing went back through local communities Holyoke, South Hadley and Granby to see how turnout was and if any trends arose from this year’s election cycle.

Voters who live in Holyoke saw a pretty generic ballot this year as there were no city races but there were district-related races. The city once again came out and showed strong support for state Sen. John Velis as he received over two-thirds of the vote in Holyoke against opponent Cecilia Calabrese, the City Council vice president in Agawam.

For the ballot questions, Holyokers carried yes votes for questions 1, 2 and 4, but voted no on question 3. Question 3 was on the regulation of retail liquor licenses and the sale of alcoholic beverages.

Two Holyoke residents were running for positions in the state government as Juan Sanchez lost his bid at Secretary of State, and Gloria Caballero-Roca lost in her attempt for auditor. Both Holyoke residents are listed under the Green-Rainbow Party.

Overall, Holyoke saw its residents vote in similar fashion to that of the state.

In Granby, voter turnout was about 58 percent according to Town Clerk Kathy Kelly-Regan as the town saw 2,907 people vote of the 4,970 registered Granby voters.

“This number of voters is typical for a mid-election year. I actually thought with the mail-in ballots we would be slightly higher,” said Kelly-Regan. “I guess regardless of mail-ins, in-person, or at the polls it’s the same voters who choose to vote, they just have a different ways to process their ballots now with all the new choices.”

According to Kelly-Regan this election’s turnout was much higher than the average 15-20 percent turnout they get in local elections, but still below the typical turnout for a presidential race which sees 75-80 percent turnout.

Comparing some of the numbers with the state, Granby leaned right mainly in two of the state’s bigger races as Geoff Diehl’s campaign beat out Governor-Elect Maura Healey 1,414-1,395. A slight majority of Granby voters also went with Republican candidate James McMahon over Attorney General-Elect Andrea Campbell 1,423-1,376.

Granby voters also showed support for local Bill Johnson who beat Jacob Oliveira 1,495-1,322 for state senator, despite Oliveira’s overall win. State Reps. Mindy Domb and Dan Carey were both re-elected in uncontested races showing the relationship between the town and its representatives continues to be strong.

On the ballot questions, Granby voted no on three of the four questions including question 1, which was 1,443-1,348 in creating a new income tax level. Granby voters also voted to reject question 3 on retail alcohol licensing limits and question 4 on the referendum on the existing law to allow immigrants lacking permanent legal status to get their driver’s license.

The town voted yes on question 2 which was a law proposed by initiative petition for dental medical loss ratios.

In South Hadley a vacancy on the Selectboard was filled as Nicole Casolari was elected in an uncontested race to fill the seat until its term ends in April. Casolari has already told Reminder Publishing she plans on running for a full term in the spring.

Voters in South Hadley matched those of the state as each winner in South Hadley also won their race overall. The town saw over 7,000 voters cast a ballot.