By Seth Daniel
Councilor Wayne Matewsky came out on top once again in the Preliminary Election last Tuesday, Sept. 19, with former Councilor Michael Marchese making a strong showing, and newcomer John Whelan being the lone candidate eliminated from the 11-person field.
The remaining 10 candidates will compete for five seats this November in a race where all five incumbents are facing healthy competition from an experienced and interesting field.
The results are as follows: (* = incumbent)
- *Wayne Matewsky, 795
- Michael Marchese, 777
- *John Hanlon, 767
- *Rich Dell Isola, 611
- *Peter Napolitano, 558
- Stephanie Smith, 516
- Catherine Tomassi Hicks, 491
- *Cynthia Sarnie, 469
- Joseph Lamonica, 457
- Leo Barrett, 186
- John Whelan, 165
There were a total of 5,821 votes cast in all 12 precincts of the city. There were also 29 write-in votes that were not disclosed.
Matewsky said after his election victory that he was very pleased, and believed he had hit on the issues that were important to the voters. He said he plans to carry that forward to the City Election on Nov. 7.
“I found out I was strong in every neighborhood,” he said, noting that he won the most precincts. “I won the Village areas, which was the first time in my political life and I’ve been around for a while. The seniors came out for me and my long-time supporters and my committee came out for me. Ward 1 was very generous to me as well. Really, though, I attribute my victory here to driving 68 people to the polls, whether they were senior citizens or people who didn’t want to get out in the terrible weather. That was crucial. In this Preliminary, 68 people was not a small number of votes.”
Indeed, Matewsky topped Marchese by18 votes, and Councilor Hanlon by 30 votes, so it certainly wasn’t an election where a few votes could fall off the table with no consequence.
Marchese surprised some, but for those watching closely, it confirmed that the strength of his previous Council service and his family’s name has not been lost on the new dynamics of Everett.
Marchese beat out four of the five incumbents, and certainly gained momentum for the November election.
Meanwhile, Councilor Hanlon put up good numbers and is expected to likely surge when the full City Election takes place in November.
However, after the top three candidates, there was a drop off of more than 150 votes.
Councilor Rich Dell Isola has been active on the campaign trail this summer, but came in fourth, 156 votes behind Hanlon. Dell Isola is said to be preparing a fundraiser for today, Sept. 27, to rally his base and prepare for a strong finish in November.
Councilor Napolitano came in fifth some 53 votes behind Dell Isola. He will likely be energizing his long-time base for the November election as well.
Former Councilor Stephanie Smith, who is also the daughter of former State Rep. Steve ‘Stat’ Smith, made an impressive showing in her comeback bid, and caused many to make note of her sixth-place finish.
The same was true for former Councilor Catherine Tomassi-Hicks, who won one precinct and made a good showing with 491 votes.
Others will be looking to climb up the ladder and reset their campaigns to change the landscape of the vote last week if they are to get or retail a seat.
The at-Large race will remain the closest watched race going into November, as the only other strongly competitive race is in District 2, where Councilor Steve Simonelli will meet challenger Stephanie Martins.