Voters share views as they cast Super Tuesday ballots
As they braved a damp, gray day to cast ballots in Tuesday’s election, Massachusetts voters expressed hope and fear, enthusiasm and tactical thinking, their views echoing the messy and sometimes contradictory forces shaping a presidential primary process that appears headed toward an early resolution, given how far ahead both front-runners — former president Donald Trump on the GOP side, and President Biden on the Democratic — appear at the moment.
Massachusetts was one of more than a dozen states voting March 5 in what’s known as Super Tuesday because of the large number of delegates up for grabs. Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley was hoping to pull off an upset. But Trump has dominated the GOP primary to date. Meanwhile, some critics of Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war were pushing Democrats to vote “no preference” on their party’s ballot as a way to send a message to the incumbent.
The voices of these Massachusetts voters, some who were excited to trek to the polls Tuesday, others who held their noses and picked the least objectionable candidate, provide a window into how voters will approach November’s contest, which will ultimately decide who sits in the Oval Office for the next four years.
‘If anyone votes for [Trump], they’re crazy.’
Helen Fitzgerald, 90, paused just past a bake sale run by Squantum Elementary School’s fifth-grade students and parents to share her thoughts on Trump’s efforts to win reelection: “After the [Jan. 6] insurrection, if anyone votes for [Trump], they’re crazy.”
She said she’s been pleased with Biden’s presidency so far, and hopes he’ll win November’s general election as well.
Others, too, said they were enthusiastic to vote for Biden on Tuesday, believing he has done a good job in office.
In Quincy, Kevin Rutherford, 33, acknowledged some voters are concerned with Biden’s age, but said he doesn’t think it has been a detriment to his leadership thus far. And with age comes experience, which Rutherford sees as a good sign.
“I would rather have somebody who’s been in the office, who’s been there for many years,” he said. “He’s created a better America than he found.”
Rutherford, a registered Democrat who described himself as an enthusiastic Biden supporter, said there are several issues he thinks about before casting his vote — climate, education, and transportation being among them. But when it comes down to it, the character of the candidate is what matters most.
“Can we make somebody’s life better? It doesn’t need to be political,” he said. “I think that’s what it comes down to with candidates — can they be decent to other people?”
But not all Democrats were happy to back Biden. In Jamaica Plain, Ben Allen, 43, expressed frustration that Biden “isn’t listening to his own party” when it comes to calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. He said he sees a broad coalition of voters, younger and older, casting votes of “no preference” this Super Tuesday.
“I definitely don’t want Trump to win, but Biden needs to listen to his own party,” he said.
‘I feel like life was better’ when Trump was in office
Jennifer Matthews, a Weymouth salon owner who voted for Trump Tuesday morning, as well as in the last two general elections, said she isn’t “one of those far-right crazy people.”
But when Trump was in office, “I just feel like life was better,” she said.
Matthews, 45, said she’s worried about border security and inflation. She added that gas prices and taxes have climbed too high, and filling up half a cart at the grocery store causes a bigger dent in her wallet than it used to.
“I think this election’s gonna bring out the worst in people,” Matthews said. “We’re at a very sad, emotional time right now.”
Jimmy Chiles, 64, of North Andover, said he believes Trump is the only politician who’s “got my back.”
“This country is a business. You vote for a businessman [to run it], and Trump is a businessman,” said Chiles, a registered Republican.
‘I just don’t trust the Republican Party.’
Faced with few choices on the Democratic side, some independent voters approached voting with a mix of strategy, resignation, and, in some cases, deep anxiety about what November holds.
Raymond Porter, 68, of Reading, said for decades he was a registered Republican before leaving the party during Trump’s term. Now an independent, he pulled a GOP ballot on Tuesday and cast what he called an “anti-Trump” vote for Haley, with the hope that she could scrape together enough support to capture delegates in Massachusetts.
But Porter said he would not vote for the GOP nominee, be it Trump, Haley, or anyone else, in November.
“I just don’t trust the Republican Party. It doesn’t matter who’s the ticket,” he said. “I still align my philosophy with what would be the old [GOP]. But not this.”
Other Trump skeptics felt voting for Haley was a waste of their vote.
‘It’s better to have a younger generation take the power.’
In Quincy, Yu-Xin Yu, a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, cast his ballot for Haley.
Yu, an independent, chose to vote in the GOP race because he thinks the party’s primary is more important this year than the Democratic race.
He said he was a bit worried about the age of both front-runners — Trump is 77, and Biden is 81 — and that he thinks Haley could make changes to push the country “in the right direction.”
“It’s better to have a younger generation take the power,” Yu, 59, said.
Lee Garrison, an independent, said on his way into Bridgewater Middle School that he’s voting for Haley because he “can’t stand” Trump and Biden.
Garrison, 77, didn’t vote in the 2020 general presidential election for that reason, and he opted out of 2016 because he didn’t like either candidate then either.
If Biden and Trump get this year’s nominations, Garrison said he’ll sit out of November’s election yet again.