Andover voters favored the Democratic candidate in each of the past three presidential elections, but nearly 2,000 fewer Andover Democrats voted at all in the latest race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
The turnout in Andover reflected a national trend, in which 7.7 percent fewer Democrats nationwide cast a ballot in 2024 than they did in 2020.
Deputy Town Manager and Town Clerk Austin Simko said voter turnout in Andover for national elections varies greatly depending on the given candidates’ charisma, the competitiveness of the race, and what issues are at stake.
He added that there is an “intimacy” to presidential elections in Andover, despite them being held on a large-scale national level.
“You’re going to your local school or youth center, and it’s your neighbors who are the poll workers, and it’s your town employees who are facilitating the election. It’s your local police officers who are greeting you as you walk through the door,” said Simko.
Simko specified that he considers Andover an active community “from a civic perspective,” estimating that 1,000 to 2,000 of the town’s roughly 27,000 registered voters attended some of the annual and special Open Town Meetings in 2023 and 2024. These meetings of direct democracy can continue over two or three days for several hours per night and address local issues such as the town budget, public school matters, and town bylaws.
This story was published as part of a collaboration between Andover News and the Department of Journalism in Boston University’s College of Communication. The student journalist is a member of Professor Meghan E. Irons’s Reporting in Depth class.
“What’s refreshing about local politics, whether it’s an annual town election or a Town Meeting, is that party identification isn’t a significant driver,” said Simko. “You have people voting on issues based on how they feel about a school, a budget, a zoning issue, and those debates largely happen irrespective of whether a voter happens to be registered as a Democrat or a Republican or unenrolled.”
Matt Bausemer, a 47-year-old HVAC technician and chair member of the Andover Democratic Town Committee said he believes Democrats across the country are losing ground because “people don’t want to be involved” in politics.
“The Dems don’t really have a strong bench where they bring people up, and I think that’s because they don’t want to be attacked. People don’t want to be attacked,” he said.
The Committee, which he shorthanded to “The Andover Dems” is a local political organization that supports Democratic candidates and holds meetings to discuss political values. He noted that the group typically raises money and mobilizes voters leading up to each election, but did less in 2024, because “we just knew that Massachusetts was going to go left.”
However, “there was an insurgence of new blood after this election,” he said regarding new members.
While the majority of Andover voted for Democrats, the 33.28 percent of voters who favored the Republican presidential ticket were satisfied with the results.
Kaitlyn Haggerty, a 39-year-old registered voter, said she agrees with both parties at times depending on the political issue, but happens to lean more right on most subjects. She reflected Bausemer’s sentiment of not wanting to be too politically involved.
“Politics really stress me out. I try to ignore it all as much as I can,” said Haggerty. “I try to be private with my stance due to being self employed.”
Haggerty said that she hopes the Trump Administration will prioritize tax cuts for Americans, lower gas and grocery costs, not start or be involved in new wars, and secure the border.
While Haggerty said she expected Republican President Donald Trump to win, Bausemer said members of the Andover Democrats struggled to accept the national outcome. He described election night as a “horror show,” and recalled that local Democrats were in shock and emotional while watching results trickle in from his living room.
“I think a lot of people were like, it’s the opposite of what John F. Kennedy said, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,’” said Bausemer. “It’s like, ‘[expletive] that. What can my country do?’”