There were no surprises in last night's Democratic primaries, with incumbents and heavily-favored candidates sweeping the polls.
Three-term U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy (8th District) retained his seat in the House, snowing candidate Charles C. Yancey. Kennedy claimed 78 percent of the vote with 80 percent of the precincts reporting.
City Councillor Timothy J. Toomey also glided to victory with about 55 percent more of the vote than opponent Karen L. Uminski in what became a free-for-all race for the 29th Middlesex district after State Rep. Peter Vellucci dropped his bid last march.
Although he won the overall vote easily, Toomey lost Somerville to Uminski, a resident of that city and a former Vellucci aide.
State Rep. Alvin Thompson managed easily to overcome what he thought might be a wave of anti-in-cumbent fever, handily defeating Robert J. LaTremouille by 67 percent.
Neither Toomey nor Thompson face Republican opposition in the fall general election.
State Sen. Michael J. Barrett '72 faced an uncontested primary and will face in November Republican candidate Marc. P. Pascucci, who pulled off a win over Vincent J. Manganello, 49 to 31 percent.
"The results were not a surprise at all," said Democratic Cambridge Election Commissioner Darleen G. Bonislawiski.
"We did think that there might be no-incumbency fever in Cambridge, but the results reflect the fact that the voters did not want to turn the incumbents out," she added.
Although the anti-incumbency backlash was not felt in Cambridge, there was enough elsewhere to bounce U.S. Representative Chester Atkins. The Concord representative, who bounced 126 checks in the House bank, lost to Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Martin Meehan.
Because few seats were contested by serious challengers, voter turn out was low in Cambridge--where voter turnout usually reaches almost 50 percent. Only 37 percent of all Democrats and 25 percent of all Republicans showed up at the polls.
"The voter apathy was out on the streets," said Thompson about an hour after the results were tallied. "They're disgusted out there--they know there are tough times ahead."
Thompson, a two-term House veteran, said economic development will be the main focus of his next term, along with education and women's issues.
Although the media and politicos picked favorites months before the polls opened yesterday, all the candi- "We came out of nowhere and we still managed towin Somerville by 500 votes. What we accomplishedwas incredible," said Uminski from her campaignheadquarters in Somerville. She said that although Toomey outspent herupstart campaign by about two to one, she feelsthat she was victorious since she was able toclaim a small win in Toomey's own backyard. "We expect to hold Councillor Toomey's seat tothe fire," Uminski said. Even the heavily favored Kennedy had supportersdoing some last-minute politicking on streetcorners with campaign signs, trying to dish upsupport over Yancey, who received little attentionfrom the press during the campaign
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