Editorial Mayors receive strong votes of confidence

Fitchburg and Leominster voters in Tuesday’s elections stayed with experienced leadership at the helm of their respective Twin Cities, sending a strong message of approval about the positive direction of both communities.

In Fitchburg, incumbent Mayor Stephen DiNatale won a fourth term, fighting off a challenge by political newcomer Andrew Cordio.

In Leominster, Mayor Dean Mazzarella easily turned back challenger Andrea Freeman to win a 14th consecutive term as the top city official.

DiNatale garnered 2,553 votes to Cordio’s 1,026 total, according to unofficial results from the City Clerk, while Mazzarella garnered 5,059 votes to Freeman’s 1,997.

Other Fitchburg incumbents generally faced little opposition.

In the race for the five atlarge seats on the City Council, councilors Marcus DiNatale, Amy Green, Samantha Squailia and Anthony Zarrella retained their seats, while challenger Sally Cragin knocked off incumbent Thomas Hughes.

On the School Committee, incumbents Rosemary Reynolds and Peter Stephens were re-elected and will be joined by victorious challenger Maritiza Maria Knight.

In the City Council Ward elections, the only contested race was Ward 6, won by Derrick James Cruz.

Councilors Bernard Schultz III ( Ward 1), Paul Beauchemin ( Ward 2), Andrew Couture ( Ward 3), Andrew Van Hazinga ( Ward 4) and Marisa Fleming ( Ward 5) ran unopposed.

In Leominster, office holders who chose to seek re- election encountered little headwind.

There were only four candidates in the race for the four at- large Council seats. Incumbents Claire Freda, Thomas Ardinger and Sue Chalifoux Zephir ran unopposed, with the fourth position filled by Todd Michael Deacon.

In the race for the three at- large School Committee seats, two of the three incumbents, Brandon Lee Robbins and Melissa Bible, won re- election, while longtime member Suzanne Keohler was ousted by challenger Salvatore Anthony Perla Jr.

With three of the five current School Committee Ward members opting not to run for another term, there were contested races in Wards 1 and 3, but only one candidate for Ward 4, Josh Bowdridge.

In Ward 1, Gregory Renchkosvky was the narrow winner. In Ward 3, newcomer Gregory Thomas prevailed.

School Committee Members Ronnie Houle ( Ward 2) and Eileen Griffin ( Ward 5) ran unopposed.

There was only one contested Ward race for City Council, Ward 1, won by William Brady.

In Wards 2, 3 and 4, incumbents Pauline Cormier, David Cormier, Mark Bodanza and Peter Angelini ran unopposed, respectively.

Lowell, a city employing the at- large/district system for the first time, also held municipal elections Tuesday

Mandated by a federal consent decree, the hybrid setup produced some novel results, but not the wideranging changes that some plaintiffs in that discrimination lawsuit might have envisioned.

The unveiling of this new election method, which was supposed to neutralize the influence of sections of the city that take the privilege of voting seriously, certainly didn’t generate any additional voter engagement.

Just under 18% of the Lowell’s registered voters cast a ballot.

The new order didn’t change the dynamic in the race for the three at- large councilors. Previous top vote- getters Vesna Noun, Rita Mercier and John Drinkwater easily topped the ticket again.

But by design, this novel election format produced some ground- breaking outcomes in the eight district council races.

Rodney Elliott and Bill Samaras, two longtime councilors and former mayors, were voted out of office, defeated by two other sitting councilors, Dan Rourke and John Leahy, respectively.