Framingham 2021 Election Results: Sisitsky, Mallach, Alexander In

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Framingham elected the second mayor in city history on Tuesday with voters handing the reigns to former city councilor and selectman Charlie Sisitsky. Incumbent Mayor Yvonne Spicer conceded shortly after polls closed on Tuesday.

Apart from the mayoral contest, three incumbent City Councilors — Adam Steiner, Tracey Bryant and Cesar Stewart-Morales — all faced challenges in 2021. All came out ahead, although Steiner was only leading challenger Mary Kate Feeney by two votes, according to preliminary results.

Under state law, candidates must petition for a recount. Feeney did not immediately respond to a reqest for comment Tuesday if she would seek one in the District 3 race.

"A recount is likely. So stay tuned. Win or lose your message to reform the way we do business was heard loud and clear," she wrote in a Facebook post.

In the open Council races, Leora Mallach took District 7 and Noval Alexander took District 5 in preliminary results released Tuesday evening. On the School Committee side, every member was unchallenged on the ballot, except District 9 member William LaBarge. Local resident Scott Hayes mounted a write-in challenge.

Spicer's performance in Tuesday's general election mirrored the Sept. 14 primary, where Sisitsky came out ahead by about double the votes. On Tuesday, he came out about 4,400 votes ahead of Spicer.

The incumbent mayor — the first elected after Framingham transition to a city in 2017 — conceded about 30 minutes after polls closed on Tuesday.

"Serving as the Mayor of Framingham has been the honor of my life. I am thankful for the opportunity to have been Framingham’s very first mayor, and the first African-American woman to be elected mayor in Massachusetts," Spicer said in a statement near 8:30 p.m.

Spicer also touted other accomplishments during her term, including fighting the pandemic and hiring the city's first Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer.

"I am proud to leave Framingham in a better place than when I took office," her statement said.

Sisitsky declined to run for another Council term in 2019, but came back into politics in 2021 with strong backing.

"I got very concerned that the community was going in the wrong direction and that somebody had to step in and turn it around," he told Patch in August about his decision to run for mayor. "And many people came to me and asked me to run for mayor because they had the same concerns. Another four years of Yvonne Spicer would be a disaster for the city."

His campaign was endorsed ahead of Nov. 2 by state Reps. Jack Lewis and Maria Robinson, City Councilors including Steiner and George King Jr., and School Committee Chair Adam Freudberg.

"Congratulations to our incoming mayor, @CSForFramingham ! I look forward to working with you and your new administration in the days to come!" Robinson said in a tweet after Spicer conceded.

Turnout in the 2021 election was higher than in 2019. About 30 percent of voters cast a ballot on Tuesday compared to 18.49 percent in 2019.

Here are the unofficial results reported Tuesday night with presumed winners in bold. Sign up for Framingham Patch email alerts here.

Mayor

• Charlie Sisitsky — 8,283
• Yvonne Spicer (i) — 3,909

City Council District 1

• Christine Long (i) — 1,700

City Council District 2

• Jacob Binnall — 679
• Cesar Stewart-Morales (i) — 1,058

City Council District 3

• Adam Steiner (i) — 997
• Mary Kate Feeney — 995

City Council District 4

• Michael Cannon — 1,090

City Council District 5

• Noval Alexander — 628
• Cheryl Gordon — 509

City Council District 6

• Philip Ottaviani — 987

City Council District 7

• Leora Mallach — 526
• Magda Janus — 285

City Council District 8

• John Stefaini (i) — 553

City Council District 9

• Tracey Bryant (i) — 190
• Edgardo Torres — 77

School Committee District 1

• Beverly Hugo (i) — 1,655

School Committee District 2

• Richard Finlay — 1,284

School Committee District 3

• Jennifer Moshe — 1,461

School Committee District 4

• Adam Freudberg (i) — 1,074

School Committee District 5

• Priscila Sousa (i) — 852

School Committee District 6

• Valerie Ottaviani — 979

School Committee District 7

• Tiffanie Maskell (i) — 646

School Committee District 8

• Jessica Barnhill (i) — 539

School Committee District 9

• William LaBarge (i) — 200
• Write-in — 28

Library Trustee

• Heather Woods — 4,752
• Leslie White-Harvey — 4,646
• Ruth Winett (i) — 6,525
• Trent Fortner — 3,024
• Steven Malchman (i) — 5,132
• Isabella Petroni — 5,469
• Heather Klish (i) — 3,473
• Jenny DeArcangelis — 3,741

Cemetery Trustee

• Julie Ferrari — 6,535
• Dennis Cardiff (i) — 7,197
• Nicholas Paganella — 5,678