Gloucester Republican wins Governor's Council ballot spot as a write-in

A Gloucester Republican who was not on the September primary ballot will be on the Nov. 3 ballot for the Governor's Council after winning his party's nomination as a write-in.

William Falcetano will challenge Democrat Eunice Delice Zeigler of Methuen for the 5th District seat, which includes Gloucester, Rockport, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea. Zeigler won the seat in 2024.

No Republican was printed on the 5th District primary ballot. Falcetano received 1,216 write-in votes across the district, according to results posted by Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin's office. That is 42.8% of the votes cast for any name. Other write-in names together drew 1,625 votes, and 34,884 Republican primary voters left the line blank.

To win a primary by write-in, a candidate must lead the field and get at least as many votes as the number of signatures the office requires to get on the ballot. For Governor's Council, that is 1,000 signatures. Falcetano cleared it. The Secretary's list of Nov. 3 candidates now names him as the Republican nominee from Gloucester.

How our towns voted

In the Republican primary for the seat:

• Gloucester: 120 votes for Falcetano, of 1,739 ballots cast
• Rockport: 47 of 471
• Manchester-by-the-Sea: 24 of 371
• Essex: 0 of 291

Danvers gave him the most votes of any community in the district, 199.

Zeigler was unopposed in the Democratic primary and received 86,446 votes districtwide. She drew 4,252 votes in Gloucester, 1,657 in Rockport, 872 in Manchester-by-the-Sea and 522 in Essex.

The state election is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Gloucester's early voting schedule is here.