It was a night for North Shore incumbents to celebrate.
In the closely-watched race between state Rep. Ted Speliotis and Republican challenger Mark Mezzina, the Danvers Democrat won by 558 votes out of 19,786 cast. He will be returning to Beacon Hill for the 12th time to represent the 13th Essex District.
Mezzina, a Danvers resident, made it interesting.
The 25-year-old JC Penney appliance salesman and Town Meeting member won three of the four precincts in Peabody, and won Middleton by 240 votes in his first bid for a seat in the State House.
But Danvers, Speliotis’ hometown, gave him a comfortable margin of victory by more than 1,000 votes, capturing every precinct.
“I guess the headline in the Danvers Herald was right a long time ago, Danvers has a love affair with Ted Speliotis,” the winner told the packed crowd at the Polish Russian Lithuanian American Citizens Club. “Winning is great.”
Mezzina said he was surprised by the results.
“I thought I was in better shape,” he said. “My message resonated with lots of people, it just wasn’t the right night, it wasn’t the right time.”
In Saugus, state Rep. Donald Wong (R-Saugus) handily beat back Democratic challengers Matt Crescenzo and Independent Michael Coller in the 9th Essex state representative race.
Wong celebrated at his family’s restaurant, the Kowloon Restaurant.
“I will do my best to make you glad that you voted for me,” Wong said to a room full of his supporters. “I am very grateful for all of the people here who believe in me.”
This is the first time Wong won both precincts in Lynn, he said. The win will send Wong back to the state house for his fifth consecutive term.
“I think the voters understand that I’m here for the working people,” he said. “I can’t say enough for the voters who came out and believed in me. I want to make them proud.”
Wong, who has held the 9th Essex District seat since 2011, was a Saugus Town Meeting member from 2005 to 2007, then chairman of the Saugus Board of Selectmen until 2011. In addition to his work at the State House, Wong owns and helps operate Kowloon Restaurant on Route 1. Founded by his grandparents in 1950, the restaurant was passed down to his parents in 1960 and later to himself and his siblings.
According to unofficial results, Wong secured more votes in each town, and in each precinct, than the other two candidates. Wong finished with 4,048 votes in Wakefield and 1,693 votes in Lynn over Crescenzo’s 2,304 and 1,141.
In their hometown of Saugus, Wong got 5,871 votes and Crescenzo trailed with 2,665.
Challenger Crescenzo is a 25-year-old U.S. Army veteran who served overseas in Afghanistan and South Korea as a communications specialist security officer. After returning home, he secured a job at the Lynn Community Health Center working in information technology.
Coller, an independent candidate with a background in private investigation, scored 153 votes in Lynn. He secured only 343 votes in his hometown of Saugus. Unofficial results for Coller from the Wakefield Town Clerk were not available as of 10:45 p.m.
Many incumbents on the North Shore did not face opposition.
State Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn) won the seat for the Third Essex District in a special election earlier this year after Thomas M. McGee became the city’s mayor. The district includes Lynn, Lynnfield, Marblehead, Nahant, Saugus and Swampscott.
State Sen. Joseph Boncore (D-Winthrop) represents Revere in the First Suffolk and Middlesex District. State Sen. Joan Lovely (D-Salem) represents Peabody in the Second Essex.
Also unopposed are state representatives Daniel Cahill (10th Essex, which includes parts of Wards 1, 3, 4 and 5 and all of Ward 2 in Lynn), Lori Ehrlich (8th Essex, Swampscott, Marblehead and Precincts 4 in Wards 3 and 4 in Lynn); Thomas Walsh, 12th Essex (Wards 1-4 in Peabody and Precincts 1-3 in Ward 5), RoseLee Vincent, 16th Suffolk (Precincts 3 and 10 in Saugus; and parts of Wards 1, 3, and 5 and all of Wards 4 and 6 in Revere); and Robert DeLeo, 19th Suffolk (Ward 2 in Revere, as well as parts of Wards 1, 3, and 5. All are Democrats.
Democrat Peter Capano, a Lynn City Council member, won a contested primary for the 11th Essex seat vacated by Crighton when he won the special election to the senate. The district includes parts of Wards 4 and 5 and all of 6 and 7 in Lynn, as well as Nahant. He is running unopposed.
In the 20th Middlesex District, which takes in Lynnfield, Rep. Bradley Jones Jr., a Republican, is also unopposed. Jones is the minority leader of the Massachusetts house.
Jonathan W. Blodgett was unopposed in his re-election as Essex District Attorney.