Most experts had the Ward 6 Council race between Councilor Michael McLaughlin and challenger Al Lattanzi as too close to call – a nail-biter than some said could elicit a recount.
None of that panned out, though, as McLaughlin prevailed easily in the race, which had become very contentious. McLaughlin won by more than 800 votes, and beat Lattanzi in all 12 precincts across the city, and came out one of the biggest winners in the City Election last Tuesday.
Even McLaughlin this week said he was surprised at the margin of victory because both he and Lattanzi worked very hard in the campaign.
But he also said that his victory proved that the people of Everett trusted him, and they wanted an independent voice.
“The opportunity to continue to serve in city government is the honor of my life,” he said. “This campaign was a different type of campaign for me. It is easy to do the right thing during a campaign, or when everyone is watching, but it’s more important when no one is watching. I pride myself on living every day as a strong, reliable, common sense voice for the city of Everett.”
Nevertheless, this week McLaughlin said he really wanted to congratulate Lattanzi on a great campaign, and hoped that they could be friends as they were before the election. He also appealed to those that did not vote for him.
“It does not matter who you voted for, today is a new day and I want to be the voice for all of Everett,” he said. “The same goes for all of the Department Heads and City employees. I hope to turn the page and have the opportunity to continue working together for the residents and business owners in our community.”
McLaughlin will be embarking on his third term in office this time around, having first been elected to the current City Council in 2015. He also served on the former Common Council.