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A surprise in Everett, history in Brockton: Here's a roundup of the local Massachusetts election results
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
It's Wednesday. Before we get to election results, a quick reminder that all Green Line service north of Park Street is suspended today through next Thursday, Nov. 13.
Click here for the details on shuttle buses and other ways to get around the closure, which includes Government Center, North Station and the Green Line Extension. (There's a code for up to five free Bluebikes rides in there, too.) It's also worth noting that inbound C branch trains will terminate at Kenmore during the diversion, meaning C riders will need to transfer to B or D trains to go farther downtown.
Now, about last night:
Boston: Mayor Michelle Wu coasted to a second term with more than 93% of the votes. As WBUR's Eve Zuckoff reports, Wu celebrated the victory at Grace by Nia in the Seaport. But all the election night drama was in the city council races.
- At-large: All four incumbents held on to their seats — including Councilor Henry Santana, who was seen as most vulnerable to falling victim to former Councilor Frank Baker's comeback attempt. Not so. Santana finished fourth, ahead of Baker by more than 15,000 votes, or 5 percentage points. Wu called it a "landslide."
- District 7: The sole new face on the council next year will be Rev. Miniard Culpepper, who beat Said Ahmed in the race for ex-Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson's vacated seat. The 72-year-old pastor and former housing attorney won 53% to 45%. (Click here for full unofficial Boston City Council election results.)
Everett: In perhaps the most surprising result of the night, longtime (but increasingly scandal-plagued) Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria was ousted by City Councilor Robert Van Campen. According to the unofficial election results, Van Campen won 54% of the vote to DeMaria's 45%. "I'm going to deliver to the people of Everett the most professional administration they have ever seen," Van Campen, who campaigned on increased government accountability, said in his victory speech.
- DeMaria not-so-subtly hinted he might try to win the job back in four years. "People always come back after a loss," he told WCVB. "People will see what I did. They'll realize the work that we did for 18 years. Big shoes to fill."
Somerville: Councilor Jake Wilson won the suddenly open race to be Somerville's new mayor, defeating fellow Councilor Willie Burnley Jr., 54% to 44%. The win came after voters eliminated current Mayor Katjana Ballantyne in the September preliminary.
- Meanwhile, Somerville passed a ballot question to increase the mayoral term length from two years to four years, starting with the 2027 election. The city also passed a non-binding ballot question calling on the city to stop doing business with companies linked to Israel due to the country's treatment of Palestinians. However, Wilson has said such a boycott isn't legal under state procurement law.
Gloucester: North Shore voters toppled another incumbent yesterday: Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga. The two-term mayor lost to former city council president and Planning Board Chair Paul Lundberg by nearly 15 percentage points, according to the Boston Globe. Verga's defeat comes after a heated teacher's strike last year.
Brockton: The City of Champions made history, electing its first-ever mayor of color: Moises Rodrigues. He beat fellow City Councilor Jean Bradley Derenoncourt by just 260 votes, or 2% of all ballots cast, according to The Enterprise.
Newton: City Council President Marc Laredo won the open race for mayor in a blowout, with 77% of the vote, according to the Newton Beacon. (Meanwhile, a ballot measure to repeal the city's overnight winter parking ban came up short.)
Quincy: Mayor Thomas Koch wasn’t on the ballot, but his city council allies had a bad night. WBUR’s Simón Rios reports six Koch critics won seats on the nine-person council, in a race viewed as a referendum on the seven-term mayor. Five incumbent councilors lost, and one of Koch's most vocal critics returned as the top vote-getter.
Elsewhere in Massachusetts: Incumbent mayors held onto their seats in Agawam, Attleboro, Beverly, Chicopee, Easthampton Fall River, Framingham, Gardner, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lynn, Medford, Methuen, North Adams, Northampton (barely), Newburyport, Peabody, Salem, Taunton and Worcester.
In other news:
At Harvard: Two young Massachusetts men have been arrested in connection to the "explosion" inside a Harvard Medical School building over the weekend. An 18-year-old from Bourne and 20-year-old from Plymouth appeared in court yesterday on a single charge each of “conspiracy to damage by means of fire or an explosive.”
- Federal investigators said it's too early to speculate on a motive, but there's no evidence of any ongoing threat to the Harvard community or the public. (The two guys were apparently in town for a college Halloween party and the explosive in question was a firework.) "But let me be clear: setting off an explosive device inside a locker at an institution geared toward higher education is not some harmless college prank," FBI special agent Ted Docks said at a press conference yesterday. "It's selfish, it's shortsighted and it's a federal crime."
P.S.— Gov. Maura Healey's office says more 100,000 customers across Massachusetts have been enrolled in the state's new discounted electricity rate for heat pump users. (Our own Miriam Wasser explains how it works here.) If you weren't automatically enrolled, likely because you didn't get your heat pump through Mass Save or you got it before 2019, Healey's office says you can sign up manually via your electric utility's website. Here are the webpages for Eversource, National Grid and Unitil.
