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DAILY NEWS TRANSCRIPT U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch coasted to victory in yesterday’s Democratic primary, fending off the challenge of Phil Dunkelbarger for the party’s nomination. Unofficial totals last night gave Lynch, D-9th, a convincing 77 percent to 23 percent win over Dunkelbarger, a Westwood businessman who focused his campaign against Lynch’s support for the war in Iraq. "It doesn’t get better than that," Lynch said of his big win last night. "This is very reassuring to me. I’m very proud to have the support that we’ve received. I’m extremely happy." Voter turnout in Dedham, Norwood, Walpole and Westwood yesterday was unusually high for a primary election. Thirty-five percent of voters went to the polls in Norwood, while 33 percent voted in Norwood, 32 percent of registered voters in Westwood and 28 percent of voters in Walpole. Lynch won big in Dedham with 3,276 votes to Dunkelbarger’s 1,186. In Norwood, incumbent Lynch fared even better, crushing Dunkelbarger with 3,811 votes to 1,242 and in Walpole, Lynch won 2,713 votes to Dunkelbarger’s 882. Dunkelbarger did make a stand in his hometown of Westwood with 40 percent of the vote, but it was not enough to beat Lynch’s 53 percent share of the vote. Dunkelbarger received 1,073 votes in Westwood to Lynch’s 1,435. Blanks made up the remaining 7 percent of the Westwood vote. Dunkelbarger could not be reached for comment last night. With the strong victory, Lynch said he will now turn his attention to the general election in November against Republican candidate Jack E. Robinson. Lynch said he is looking forward to Congress being out of session during the next six weeks so he can focus on the campaign. "We’re going to be released from Washington, so I can finally do the groundwork that I enjoy," Lynch said. "We’ve got to pick it up a notch." Brock Parker can be reached at 781-433-8355 or by e-mail at bparker@cnc.com. |