Democrat Lisa Field wins Third Bristol special election to replace Carol Doherty by 17 votes
Figure 1: Third Bristol special election results
[This article was revised and republished on June 16, 2025 using the final certified results from Easton and Taunton election officials.]
Swing districts don’t swing every election, but the 17 vote margin in Tuesday’s special election for Third Bristol State Representative emphasizes how close swing district elections can be, even when the winning party is the same as last election.
Lisa Field, the Democratic candidate from Taunton emerged with a 17 vote margin based on the results posted by Easton and Taunton election officials. Lawrence Quintal, the Republican candidate from Taunton, has said that he will request a recount which is not automatic, but requires a small number of signatures. Once the signatures have been certified, the state takes on the funding and organization of the recount. It is rare for a recount to change the result.
The special election took place because of the passing of Representative Carol Doherty (D-Taunton) who died in February from pancreatic cancer. Lisa Field is a lobbyist for the Massachusetts Nurses Association and Lawrence Quintal is the co-owner of Silva Funeral Home and a Taunton City Councilor.
| Third Bristol special election votes by precinct/city/town | |||
| Lisa Field (D) | Lawrence Quintal (R) | Margin | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easton | |||
| Easton 4A | 203 | 216 | -13 |
| Easton 5 | 409 | 302 | 107 |
| Easton 6 | 421 | 443 | -22 |
| Total | 1,033 | 961 | 72 |
| Taunton | |||
| Taunton 1-A | 137 | 111 | 26 |
| Taunton 1-B | 192 | 259 | -67 |
| Taunton 2-A | 50 | 56 | -6 |
| Taunton 2-B | 100 | 93 | 7 |
| Taunton 5-A | 86 | 96 | -10 |
| Taunton 5-B | 158 | 86 | 72 |
| Taunton 7-A | 197 | 215 | -18 |
| Taunton 7-B | 178 | 258 | -80 |
| Taunton 8-A | 238 | 209 | 29 |
| Taunton 8-B | 206 | 214 | -8 |
| Total | 1,542 | 1,597 | −55 |
| Grand Total | 2,575 | 2,558 | 17 |
Lisa Field won the Easton precincts by 72 votes, while Taunton’s precincts created a 55 vote margin for Lawrence Quintal. Quintal had more votes than Field in eight precincts and Field had more votes in five precincts.
| Third Bristol special election margin vs. 2024 presidential | ||||||||
| Precinct |
2025
|
2024
|
Margin Difference
|
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Field (D) | Quintal (R) | Margin | Harris (D) | Trump (R) | Margin | |||
| Taunton 5-B | 65% | 35% | 30 | 59% | 41% | 18 | 6 | |
| Easton 5 | 58% | 42% | 15 | 62% | 38% | 24 | −4 | |
| Taunton 1-A | 55% | 45% | 10 | 55% | 45% | 11 | 0 | |
| Taunton 8-A | 53% | 47% | 6 | 52% | 48% | 4 | 1 | |
| Taunton 2-B | 52% | 48% | 4 | 55% | 45% | 11 | −4 | |
| Taunton 8-B | 49% | 51% | −2 | 51% | 49% | 1 | −1 | |
| Easton 6 | 49% | 51% | −3 | 52% | 48% | 5 | −4 | |
| Easton 4A | 48% | 52% | −3 | 57% | 43% | 14 | −8 | |
| Taunton 7-A | 48% | 52% | −4 | 50% | 50% | 0 | −2 | |
| Taunton 5-A | 47% | 53% | −5 | 53% | 47% | 5 | −5 | |
| Taunton 2-A | 47% | 53% | −6 | 57% | 43% | 14 | −10 | |
| Taunton 1-B | 43% | 57% | −15 | 48% | 52% | −5 | −5 | |
| Taunton 7-B | 41% | 59% | −18 | 45% | 55% | −10 | −4 | |
In contrast to last month’s special election for the Sixth Essex district where Hannah Bowen (D-Beverly) out-performed Kamala Harris’a margin in the district by 12 points, Lisa Field slightly underperformed compared to the 2024 presidential. Fields margin of 0 points is about 3 points less than Harris’s margin in November, 2024.
Based on the candidate fundraising reports to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, both candidates raised over $50,000 and were able to put their case in front of prospective voters, resulting in a close election in a district that was represented by Republican Mayer Shaunna O’Connell (R-Taunton) for almost ten years from 2011 until 2020 before Rep. Doherty’s win in a 2020 special election.