Political newcomers make the cut in city preliminary election

Sept. 21, 2017 | G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com



SPRINGFIELD – In the employee break room of City Hall, a digital projector threw an image on the wall.  What those numbers spelled out was either good news or bad news for the large crowd of candidates vying for a position on the final ballot for both City Council and School Committee.

Watching the results, besides two reporters, were one of the candidates Joesiah Gonzalez, running for School Committee, City Councilor Adam Gomez, State Rep. Bud Williams, businessman Herbie Flores and several volunteers representing candidates.

The ritual is in many ways unnecessary as the city is posting and regularly refreshing the campaign results on the city’s website.  Anyone could watch the results, the atmosphere isn’t the same and the running commentary, which resembles a horse race being called.

None the less people were on their phones calling candidates to let them know the standings.

At one point the small audience in the room was described as “political junkies.”

While the election determined the final November ballot, few Springfield voters cared to turn out and cast a ballot. Of the city’s 106,183 registered voters, only 5,726 went to the polls – 5.39 percent.

Voters will be asked to support up to five candidates among the 10 in the final election for the at-large City Council seats. For School Committee, there will be four candidates for two positions.

The results:
• City Council at large: Justin Hurst (incumbent) 2,719, Thomas Ashe (incumbent) 2,503, Kateri Walsh (incumbent) 2,496, Jesse Lederman 2,007, Timothy Ryan 1,855, Tracye Whitfield, 1,637, Victor Davila, 1,183, Kelli Moriarty-Finn, 1,278, Ernesto Cruz, 1,080 and Jynai McDonald, 976.
• City Council Ward 2: Michael Fenton (incumbent) 537, Kency Gilet, 123.
• City Council Ward 3: Melvin A. Edwards (incumbent) 211, Kevin Dumpson, 80.
• City Council Ward 4: E. Henry Twiggs, (incumbent) 304, Robert J. Kelly, 178.
• School Committee at Large: Denise Hurst (incumbent) 2,538, James Ferrera, 1,691, LaTonia Monroe Naylor, 1,571, Ryan Hess, 1,061.
• School Committee District 2: Barbara Gresham (incumbent), Stephanie Murchinson-Brown, 330.

Gonzelez, watching the results rolling in, said his first campaign was stressful, he enjoyed getting to know Springfield voters. He added he wants to stay involved with issues and hasn’t ruled out another run for office.

Lederman, who ran for the council two years ago, said he was “so humbled and grateful” and he was now going to continue his effort to “knock on doors and share with them my ideas.”

For Ferrera, the preliminary victory opened to the door to a second act of his political life after a long tenure on the City council. He told Reminder Publications he was “truly humbled and was looking forward to working with Mayor Sarno and Superintendent Warrick.”

Gilet, who recognized the poor turnout, said his efforts in the final election would be getting the vote out in his ward as well as communicating his message. He acknowledged the preliminary election was  “a long day.”

McDonald said she plans to raise “level of communications” and discuss her stance on issues in greater depth in the weeks up to the November final election.

Moriarty-Finn said, “I'm very pleased at the campaign we continue to run. My team and supporters have been fabulous, and as Bill Bellechick says, we’re on to the next game! Voter apathy, however, needs to be addressed. Perhaps if we had more transparent elected officials who engaged citizens more, we’d have a voter base that actually felt as though there were part of the process.”

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