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VOTE TUESDAY, NOV. 5 POLLING PLACES
Vol. 28, No. 44
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Friday, November 1, 2019
Modest turnout expected at the polls By Barbara Taormina andidates will be making their last big push to connect with residents this weekend as time ticks down to Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5. This year’s vote could potentially shift the direction of city government and reshape the School Committee with new ideas and priorities. Still, no one is expecting a crush at the polls next week. “I think we’ll see a turnout of around 30 to 32 percent,” said City Clerk Greg Lucey. “That’s what we saw in the 2011 mayor’s race.”
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Eight years ago, 32 percent of the city’s eligible voters turned out to elect incumbent Gary Christenson to his first term as mayor. Voter participation was driven by the two-person race, and Christenson won by a 2-to1 margin over City Councillor Deborah Fallon. But in 2015, when Christenson ran unopposed for his second term, turnout dropped to 21 percent. Christenson is now facing a challenge from City Councillor John Matheson, who has represented Ward 3 on the City Council since 2009, and Lucey expects voter participation to jump back up by around 10
percentage points to a level he said is the trend for municipal elections. “Ward 3 will have a big turnout,” added Lucey, referring to the race between Community Preservation Committee Chair Juliane Orsino and Metropolitan Area Planning Council Communications Director Amanda Linehan. Over the past decade, Ward 3 has had the highest voter turnout rate among the city’s eight wards, possibly because residents share an interest in issues like the redevelopment of Malden Hospital and safety on neighborhood roads. This time
On Tuesday, November 5th
Vote JOHN H. FROIO MALDEN SCHOOL COMMITTEE
WARD 8 “KEEP PROGRESS MOVING” (Political Advertisement)
JOHN MATHESON
GARY CHRISTENSON
Mayoral Challenger
Incumbent Mayor
around, the community’s interest in specific issues, such as the choice between artificial turf or grass at Roosevelt Field, could boost the turnout in the City Council races. In the At-Large City Council race, incumbents Craig Spadafora, Debbie DeMaria and Stephen Winslow and former School Committee Member Jerry Leone are competing for three seats. In Ward 5, incumbent Barbara Murphy is facing a challenge from Danyal Najmi, and City Council President Jadeane Sica is running against Andrew Vanni for the Ward 8 City Council seat. There are five races for seats on the School Committee this year. In Ward 2, incumbent Rob
McCarthy is running against Anna Geoffroy; Ward 4 incumbent Leonard Iovino is facing a challenge from Dawn Macklin; and Joe Gray and Renee Dean are competing for the Ward 6 seat. Keith Bernard and Michelle Luong are vying for the open seat in Ward 7; and incumbent John Froio and challenger Rachel Running are competing to represent Ward 8. Despite months of heavy campaigning, the City Clerk’s Office did not see a noticeable surge of voter registration before the Oct. 16 deadline. “But there has been a big uptick in people coming in and requesting absentee ballots, filling them out and then voting over the counter,” said Lucey.