Victory For John Lawn in 10th Middlesex State Rep. Race

John Lawn handily won the special election last night for the 10th Middlesex District State Rep. seat, defeating Republican James Dixon.

Around 9 p.m. last night, Dixon called Lawn to concede, after unofficial results showed that Lawn had won all 10th Middlesex precincts, 1,814 votes to 858 for Dixon.

(See videos of both candidates from their election night events by clicking the video on the right)

Lawn, who gathered with supporters at Fit Z’s Bar and Grille in Watertown, garnered 374 votes in Newton to 145 for Dixon. In Waltham, Lawn won 987 to Dixon’s 624, while Watertown results showed a win for Lawn, 453 votes to 99. 

Newton results initially reported on the city’s Web site showed that Dixon had won several precincts, however those numbers had been flip-flopped.

Lawn’s victory ends the short campaign, which started after former was appointed as the Middlesex County Sheriff earlier this year.

Waltham City Councillor , , of Waltham and ., all Democrats, during April’s primary election. , of Waltham, was the only Republican on the ballot.

Since he entered the race, Lawn said he thought he had a shot at taking the seat, which represents south Waltham, one precinct in Watertown and three in Newton.

“I didn’t just put my hat in the ring. From the start, I thought I had a chance to win,” Lawn said. “I’m happy. I’m tired. It’s been a long haul. It’s tough with little kids you are trying to keep up with, but the hard work paid off.”

Dixon said he had expected to beat Lawn, for one reason.

“There is a sense of change. People want change,” he told Patch after addressing supporters during his gathering at the American Legion Post 156 in Waltham.

With the election over, Lawn said the process was like a sprint, but still required a lot of hard work.

“I know that this is a tremendous opportunity. I take this very seriously, to represent these three communities,” Lawn said. “I know I will be judged by the work I do to remain in this seat. I will start working with people [Wednesday] to do the best to represent this district.”

Lawn plans to meet with Koutoujian soon to learn the dynamics of the district.

"He’s been a great representative for this district,” Lawn said of Koutoujian. “He’s certainly been very supportive of me and helpful. I am proud to follow in his footsteps.”

Koutoujian congratulated Lawn, and said it was a great day for Watertown. For the former representative, who served the district for 14 years, the day was bittersweet.

"It's a wonderful district to represent. I loved every moment I had with the 1oth Middlesex district," Koutoujian said. "It was day that was a little wistfully for me. While I truly love the job that I have, it was hard knowing that today was the day that someone would actually replace me. It was more difficult a day than I would have a imagined, actually."

Despite Dixon’s loss, several of his supporters had a clear message for Lawn — listen to constituents of on both side of the political spectrum. 

“It’s really sad. We all worked really hard,” said Newton resident Sandy Young of Dixon’s loss. “We thought he had a good chance.”

The Republican’s social media manager for the campaign, Beth D’Amato, said she thought Dixon would win “because he is such a good guy.”

“I just thought maybe it was his time,” she said.

As for how Lawn should represent his constituents, D’Amato said he should listen to his conservative constituents.

“I would hope that he would listen so some of his more conservative constituents,” D’Amato said.