Somerville is Less Republican Than the 'People's Republic' Next Door
When it comes to party enrollment, how does Somerville compare to its neighbors?
We already know that Somerville is the least Republican city in the state.
In the 2010 November elections, only about 4.5 percent of registered voters in Somerville were registered as Republicans. Only the relatively small towns of Provincetown, Aquinnah (on Martha's Vineyard) and Wendell (near Springfield) were less Republican.
We looked at more current voter registration numbers compiled by the Massachusetts Secretary of State in February of this year, just before the March 6 presidential primaries. Somerville remained an extrememly un-Republican place, with 4.5 percent of voters registered with the GOP. Even the so-called "People's Republic of Cambridge" had a higher percentage of Republicans, at 4.6 percent.
That said, Somerville has lower percentages of registered Democrats than places like Cambridge, Boston and Chelsea. About 40.7 percent of Somerville voters are unenrolled.
In Massachusetts as a whole, these unenrolled voters represent the largest chunk. 52.2 percent of voters across Massachusetts aren't registered with a political party.
How does Somerville's party enrollment compare to those in neighboring communities? Check out this chart. These numbers were taken from an enrollment breakdown as of Feb. 15, 2012, compiled by the Massachusetts Secreatry of State. You can see the breakdown here.
| Town | Total voters | Democrat (% total) | Republican (% total) | Green-Rainbow (% total) | Unenrolled (% total) |
| Arlington | 28,941 | 13,641 (47.1%) | 2128 (7.3%) | 40 (0.1%) | 13,039 (54%) |
| Boston | 352,112 | 194,673 (55.2%) | 23,722 (6.7%) | 536 (0.1%) | 131,726 (37.4%) |
| Cambridge | 61,298 | 35,785 (58.3%) | 2842 (4.6%) | 223 (0.4%) | 22,162 (36.1%) |
| Chelsea | 12,827 | 6969 (54.3%) | 796 (6.2%) | 11 (0.08%) | 4983 (38.8%) |
| Everett | 18,591 | 9447 (50.8%) | 960 (5.1%) | 13 (0.07%) | 8082 (43.4%) |
| Lynnfield | 9069 | 1946 (21.4%) | 1765 (19.4%) | 3 (0.03%) | 5319 (58.6%) |
| Malden | 28,927 | 12,963 (44.8%) | 1773 (6.1%) | 35 (0.1%) | 14,023 (48.4%) |
| Medford | 34,773 | 15,738 (45.3%) | 2,493 (7.1%) | 49 (0.1%) | 16,348 (47%) |
| Melrose | 18,720 | 6623 (35.3%) | 2207 (11.7%) | 11 (0.06%) | 9796 (52.3%) |
| Reading | 16,989 | 5279 (31%) | 2710 (15.9%) | 10 (0.06%) | 8919 (52.5%) |
| Revere | 24,410 | 11,829 (48.4%) | 1855 (7.6%) | 17 (0.04%) | 10,617 (43.4%) |
| Saugus | 17,295 | 5857 (33.8%) | 1718 (9.9%) | 11 (0.06%) | 9636 (55.7%) |
| Somerville | 43,632 | 23,553 (53.9%) | 1967 (4.5%) | 140 (0.3%) | 17,776 (40.7%) |
| Stoneham | 14,678 | 4916 (33.4%) | 1609 (10.9%) | 11 (0.07%) | 8079 (55%) |
| Wakefield | 16,501 | 5123 (31%) | 2037 (12.3%) | 13 (0.07%) | 9245 (56%) |
| Winchester | 14,820 | 4493 (30.3%) | 2146 (14.4%) | 10 (0.06%) | 8123 (54.8%) |
| Winthrop | 11,133 | 4553 (40.8%) | 951 (8.5%) | 10 (0.09%) | 5583 (50.1%) |
| Woburn | 24,648 | 9041 (18.2%) | 2610 (10.5%) | 14 (0.05%) | 12,853 (52.1%) |
| Massachusetts | 4,111,128 | 1,475,879 (35.9%) | 466,431 (11.35%) | 5103 (0.12%) | 2,145,108 (52.2%) |
Somerville Home Owner
10:38 am on Friday, August 3, 2012
4.5% vs 4.6% ?! Really, an entire article with that as the focus?! That's not a statistically significant difference
Joe Lynch
2:08 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
Chris......interesting stats but how did those D's vote in Brown vs. Coakley? That stat tells you a little more about how "blue" Somerville is.
Joe Lynch
3:17 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
found it..............24% of Somerville voters voted for Brown. Still a blue city, but a quarter will get you a new senator.