To the Editor:

Last week, election personnel finalized the results of the September 1 Democratic Primary for State Senator.  In the end, a recount confirmed that I won re-election by 35 votes.

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First, I congratulate my challenger Dan Lander on a spirited campaign.

Second, I thank all of the careful election workers who counted and then recounted the ballots cast. The publicly-witnessed recount altered the previous final count by only one vote. This should reassure everyone about the election process — not just in this race, but in general.  

Early reporting showed me up and then down and then up by varying amounts, but those variations reflected legitimate movements in the counting process.  These movements happen in every race after election day as various special categories of ballots are hand counted. Normally we do not pay attention to microscopic changes because the results are not close. Once all the votes were counted and official results posted (by September 5), the numbers did not change and the recount confirmed them on September 10.

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Finally, a close race means that people have a range of perceptions of the candidates and the issues. I will be listening carefully over the coming weeks to better understand that range of perceptions. My cell phone is 617-771-8274 and my personal email is [email protected] and I hope all of my constituents will feel free to reach out to me with thoughts.

I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve and I look forward to getting back to work.

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Thank you again to all who participated in the election.

Will Brownsberger

The writer is state senator for the 2nd and Middlesex District.