Election News: Wozniak and Reed Locked in Tight Council Race, Braunstein Wins Easily

As of 11:45 p.m. Tuesday, only 14 votes separated incumbent Christine Wozniak and challenger Eric Reed for a seat on the Belmont City Council.  As of this writing, there was still at least one precinct yet to be reported and outstanding provisional ballots and some mail-in ballots to be counted.

Incumbent David Braunstein, led the group of five candidates with 2,150 votes--36 percent of the total votes cast.

"I feel very good about the victory," said Braunstein in a phone conversation late last night. "My message and my platform resonated with the people of Belmont."

Throughout the campaign, Braunstein and other candidates focused on economic development as one of Belmont's key issues. In his post-election reflection, the candidate reiterated the importance of economic development for Belmont's future success as well as an open communication between all segments of the community.

Braunstein, a teacher at Carlmont High School, ended his election night by preparing a quiz for his students on Wednesday and reading staff reports for Wednesday night's city council meeting.

City clerk Terri Cook wore two hats--that of a candidate and of the city's election official. While her race against challenger Dave Warden was close, it's unlikely that the outstanding votes would close the gap. At last reporting, Cook led Warden by 111 votes. (See table below)

Cook was hesitant to declare herself the winner and commented in a phone conversation last night that it was clear that her opponent, Dave Warden's message resonated with voters. Warden won more votes on election day, but Cook won more mail in votes. 

City treasurer John Violet ran unopposed and received 2,760 votes.