Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026
Editor’s Note: The Carver Journal previously reported that Democrat Sarah Hewins appeared to be “on track” to win Carver’s state representative election. This was misstated. The race is still too close to call.
UPDATE: The 2nd Plymouth district state representative election remains too close to call while Republican State Rep. John Gaskey’s campaign has declared victory in the district, which his campaign said he won by 64 votes.
The Carver Journal has not yet been able to independently verify these results, which have not yet been certified by the state. The race remains too close to call.
The state representative election has remained a close contest in recent days, with Democratic Carver Select Board member Sarah Hewins holding an 89-vote lead in unofficial results after election night.
Town election offices had until Friday to receive mail-in ballots for counting. Should Gaskey’s lead be accurate, he will have won one of the most competitive elections in the Massachusetts State House this election cycle.
Gaskey’s campaign had declared victory before. On election night, Gaskey declared victory in a Facebook post around 11 p.m. The campaign then deleted the post after Hewins took the lead when Wareham reported its votes.
As of today, Hewins’ campaign had never formally declared victory in the race. It is not currently clear who will prevail.
Regardless of who leads, the race could be close enough for a recount. Under Massachusetts state law, campaigns can request a recount if the final vote margin is less than 0.5%. Both an 89-vote lead and a 64-vote lead would likely fall within that margin. Results will not be certified until at least Wednesday, Nov. 18.
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026
Democratic Select Board member Sarah Hewins appears to be on track to win the 2nd Plymouth district state representative election.
If the results hold, Hewins will unseat incumbent Republican state Rep. John Gaskey, electing a Democrat to the district’s seat for the first time in two decades.
After Wareham reported its votes around 7 a.m., Hewins jumped ahead to claim a lead of 89 votes, Wareham Week reported. Across the three towns in the district, Carver, Wareham and Middleboro, Hewins got 9,264 votes to Gaskey’s 9,175.
The race could be close enough for a recount. A representative from Gaskey’s campaign told the Carver Journal that the Gaskey team is discussing its options right now. Under Massachusetts state law, campaigns can request a recount if the margin is less than 0.5% — which it currently is.
Contact Editor-in-Chief Nick Mossman at nick@carverjournal.com
