Incumbents Carry Nearly Every Race in Marblehead

Incumbents had their night in Marblehead, earning re-election in all but one of the seven contested races.

In the six-way race for the five seats on the Marblehead Board of Selectmen, challenger Joanna Martin earned 1,426 votes, but it wasn’t enough to take a seat from the five incumbent selectmen: Jackie Belf-Becker (2,290), Harry C. Christensen Jr. (2,322), Judith R. Jacobi (2,692), Bret T. Murray (2,070) and James E. Nye (2,552).

The race for five seats on the Recreation and Park Commission also featured six candidates, four of which were incumbents. In addition to those four incumbents, newcomer Sam K. Ganglani captured a seat with 2,076 votes to Rose Ann Wheeler McCarthy’s 1,004.

The only contested race that didn’t go to the incumbent candidate was the battle for a position on the Housing Authority. In that case, incumbent Robert T. Bryne lost his seat to challenger Joan D. Cutler by a vote of 1,339 to 1,549.

Voter turnout topped 25 percent with 3,682 voters heading to the polls for the 2015 election. Full election results are available on the Town of Marblehead website.

The contested race results are below with winners in bold:

Board of Selectmen (vote for not more than five):

Jackie Belf-Becker (incumbent) -- 2,290

Harry C. Christensen Jr. (incumbent) -- 2,322

Judith R. Jacobi (incumbent) -- 2,692

Bret T. Murray (incumbent) -- 2,070

James E. Nye (incumbent) -- 2,552

Joanna Martin -- 1,426

Cemetery Commission (vote for not more than one):

Rose Ann Wheeler McCarthy -- 1,270

Matthew Wolverton -- 1,802

Board of Health (vote for not more than one):

Michelle B. Gottlieb (incumbent) -- 1,814

Carmela V. Mancini -- 1,568

Abbot Public Library Trustees - one-year unexpired term (vote for not more than one):

Nancy P. Arata -- 2,168

Daniel P. Donato -- 674

Housing Authority (vote for not more than one):

Robert T. Bryne (incumbent) -- 1,339

Joan D. Cutler -- 1,549

Recreation and Park Commission (vote for not more than five)

Linda A. Rice Collins (incumbent) -- 2,394

Derek Y. Norcross (incumbent) -- 2,503

Charles Edward Osborne Jr. (incumbent) -- 2,256

Gerald P. Tucker Jr. (incumbent) -- 2,301

Sam K. Ganglani -- 2,076

Rose Ann Wheeler McCarthy -- 1,004

School Committee (vote for not more than one):

Jonathan Lederman -- 893

Kate B. Lipsitz -- 2,578