Here’s how the South Shore voted for president in 2024

Nearly 200,000 South Shore voters cast a ballot for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020. But the momentum in the region did not return on Tuesday for Harris and Tim Walz, resulting in thousands of fewer Democratic presidential ticket votes comparatively.
Unofficial results from 21 municipalities that make up the South Shore show that 173,936 voters cast a ballot for the Harris-Walz ticket. This is about 58% of the votes captured between the two major-party candidates. In 2020, the Biden-Harris ticket received 62% support from the South Shore, or 196,400 votes, according to certified results.
To be sure, this 23,000-vote deficit did not move the needle in a state that reliably votes blue. The Harris-Walz ticket still captured 18,000 more votes on the South Shore than Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine did in 2016.
More:2024 US election results: Which states did Trump, Harris win? See Electoral College map
The 2024 presidential race was called for former President Donald Trump early Wednesday. While he did not win Massachusetts, he gained at least 66,000 additional votes in the state compared to 2020, with 98% of votes counted. Harris received about 310,000 fewer votes in Massachusetts compared to Biden in 2020.
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The South Shore Democratic turnout in 2020, which grew by 41,000 votes from 2016, could be chalked up to an “anomaly,” the reasons for which still need to be analyzed, said Rachael Cobb, an associate professor in Suffolk University’s Political Science and Legal Studies Department.
A wide range of issues drove South Shore voters to the polls on Tuesday. Those who spoke to The Patriot Ledger said motivations included democracy and the war in Gaza. One voter said they did not vote for Trump or Harris because they felt either presidency would result in more Palestinian deaths. A voter who used to identify as Republican could not vote for Trump over a difference in ideology.
Other voter issues included the economy and an unpopular incumbent, Cobb said.
Every South Shore municipality had fewer votes for the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket than 2020. The deficit this year ranged from 145 fewer votes as seen in Plymouth to as many as 5,755 fewer votes in Quincy.
The region turned out in nearly identical percentages – 58% Democrat and 42% Republican – as it had in 2016, a similarity that struck Cobb.
More:Results for the South Shore Massachusetts 2024 general election races
Meanwhile, the region’s support for Trump, regardless of his vice presidential running mate, steadily grew with each presidential election cycle.
This election cycle, Trump received 127,918 votes on the South Shore, which amounted to a gain of 8,300 Republican votes from 2020. The increase in support between 2016 and 2020 was around 5,600 votes.
In all but three South Shore towns – Duxbury, Norwell and Randolph – more Republicans turned out to vote for the 2024 Trump-JD Vance ticket than the Trump-Mike Pence ticket in 2020. Plymouth had the largest increase in Trump support with 2,407 more votes this year. The difference in Republican support between the two elections was as narrow as five votes, as was seen in Randolph.
More:Kennedy family members, including RFK Jr. and Kerry Kennedy, react to Trump election win
Four South Shore towns that were red in 2016 but flipped blue in 2020 had gone back for Trump in 2024: Hanover, Kingston, Pembroke and Whitman. Rockland, which saw higher Democrat turnout in 2016 and 2020, had a 31-vote Republican majority this year.
Voter registrations on the South Shore grew by about 25,000 voters between 2020 and 2024, with the increase seen largely in unenrolled voters. At the same time, the number of registered Democrats and Republicans in the region both decreased, by 11,000 and 3,600, respectively.
All in all, Republicans on the South Shore and Massachusetts saw a “healthy turnout,” Cobb said. “This was a good year for Republicans.”
In the state legislature, Democrats flipped one seat while Republicans flipped three, according to WBUR.
“If your goal is to try to turnout higher, then Democrats didn’t do as well,” she said. “For whatever reason, this was not a mobilizing election.”
Efforts to get more of Massachusetts’ Democratic voters to the polls may have been different, Cobb said, had incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Warren faced a tougher re-election challenge. But mobilization efforts were focused largely on the presidential election and swing states, she said. Democrats’ energy level “wasn’t as high” compared to Republicans who may have “wanted to make a statement” with their vote, Cobb noted.
Here’s a breakdown of how the South Shore voted for president in 2024.
When it comes to the five ballot measures that Massachusetts voters decided, there was no question when it came to Question 5.
Excluding three towns for which the Patriot Ledger is awaiting results – Cohasset, Hanover and Whitman – 73% of South Shore voters rejected a bid to increase the minimum wage for tipped workers.
Another easy question for the region’s voters to decide was allowing the independently elected state auditor to audit the legislature. Roughly 73% of the 270,733 votes cast were in support.
More:Teachers unions cheer passage of Question 2, ending MCAS graduation requirement
A narrower decision was for Question 3, which asked whether rideshare drivers should be allowed to unionize. While the state passed the measure with 53% in support, voters on the South Shore were more split, but leaning toward rejecting the measure by less than 4,000 votes.
Nearly 59% of South Shore voters supported getting rid of MCAS tests as a high school graduation requirement, and 58% didn’t want to legalize psychedelic substances.
Hannah Morse covers growth and development for The Patriot Ledger. Contact her at [email protected].