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As expected, Massachusetts voted for Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the presidential election. But President-elect Donald Trump, the Republican nominee did well in a number of Hampden County communities.
Trump carried Agawam, Southwick, Palmer, Monson and Ludlow by larger margins than he did in 2020. And he also grew his support in a number of smaller hill towns in far western Hampden and Hampshire counties.
In Westfield, the President-elect won the city in 2016 and lost it narrowly to President Joe Biden in 2020. But on Tuesday, he reclaimed Westfield by more than four percentage points.
Republican State Rep. Kelly Pease, who represents most of the city, said he believes many national issues, including the economy, resonated with local Trump voters.
"When you go into the grocery store, and [are] buying goods and services, you just feel it in your pocketbook," Pease said. "The working people just know they seemed to have it better in 2019."
Pease won a third term on Beacon Hill Tuesday after facing a stiff challenge from Democratic challenger Bridget Matthews-Kane, Pease won by a comfortable margin. He said Trump winning Westfield certainly helped his own cause.
“There’s probably a little bit of coattails on that,” Pease said.
Trump also narrowly leads in West Springfield, a community that had voted Democratic in presidential elections every time going back to 1988. As of Wednesday afternoon, Trump held a six-vote advantage over Harris.
In his previous presidential elections, pockets of Hampden County both to the west and east of Springfield have supported Trump. There is also more Republican representation in certain communities on Beacon Hill from these areas compared to the rest of the region.
Cecilia Calabrese, a former Agawam City Councilor who was regional director of Trump’s campaign along the north shore of Boston, says there could be several factors.
"It may be a function of influx and outflow of new people either coming into or out of communities," Calabrese said. "You have some of the younger voters who maybe weren't of voting age four years ago that are now coming of age and and saying, 'Okay, how is my life now going to be impacted? Who am I going to vote for for president for the first time?'"
In Hampden County’s most populous cities, Springfield and Chicopee, Harris was the winner. But Trump saw gains in both communities from 2020. In Springfield, Trump went from 24.9% in the previous race to 32.2% on Tuesday. In Chicopee, Trump was far more competitive this time around, with 46.2% compared to 41% in 2020.
Further away from Hampden County, Trump was far less popular. He was nearly swept in Berkshire County. And most of Hampshire and Franklin counties went solidly for Harris. Trump did manage to flip in his favor two neighboring communities north of the Quabbin Reservoir, Athol and Orange.
