PHOTO BY NICOLE GOODHUE BOYD
Donald Wong holds onto his granddaughter, Ava Myers, 5, before entering the room to celebrate his re-election Tuesday at Kowloon.
By GAYLA CAWLEY
SAUGUS — Coming off a contentious race, state Rep. Donald Wong (R-Saugus) called for unity and healing after winning re-election.
Wong declared victory at the Kowloon Restaurant shortly before 9 p.m. even as results in the 9th Essex race continued to come in.
Wong defeated Democratic nominee Jennifer Migliore.
Wong received 12,766 votes to Migliore’s 10,541, according to unofficial results from city and town clerks from Lynn, Saugus and Wakefield.
Wong lost Ward 1, precincts 1 and 2 in Lynn, but handily won Wakefield and Saugus precincts. The Saugus Town Clerk’s office reported Wong received 6,451 votes to Migliore’s 4,790. In Wakefield, he won 4,753 to 3,656. In Lynn, Wong received 1,742 votes to Migliore’s 2,005.
Wong said Migliore called him at 9 p.m. to congratulate him and concede the race.
“It feels very good to win,” said Wong. “But now is the time to heal and bring our parties together for the good of the community. We have to look toward the future. The past is the past.”
Wong said he wanted to thank Migliore for wanting to be active in the community.
Migliore, 25, confirmed the concession and said “I am incredibly proud of the campaign we ran. We spoke with over 15,000 constituents and raised awareness about key issues. These are not the results we had hoped for, but I am confident that the conversations that we have started will benefit generations for years to come.”
Wong, 64, has held his seat since 2011. Before that, he served on Saugus Town Meeting and the Board of Selectmen. He has lived in Saugus for 40 years and is a third generation business owner of Kowloon.
Wong said he wanted to thank everyone who came out to vote and supported him.
“I’m glad that the election is over now so I can put 100 percent of my attention into my district again,” he said.
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley.