Newton Elections 2017: Who Won, Tight Race

NEWTON, MA — Newton has its first woman mayor. In the end it was the votes of 344 people — in a city of more than 89,000 — who made the difference.

It was tight race, but by 8:30 p.m. the tally by Ruthanne Fuller's campaign had her projected to win. The city hall official tally had opponent Scott Lennon set to win. By 9 p.m. the Fuller campaign had called it. By their tally Fuller won by fewer than 400 votes. By 9:45 p.m. City Hall had the final (unofficial) tally: Scott Lennon 12,061 to Ruthanne Fuller's 12,405. Fuller won.

In case you're just tuning in there was a heated race for mayor, and a number of contested seats on the city council as well as the school committee. Also on this ballot was the question of whether the city will change its charter - which has folks split. That Charter change did not pass.

Come back and visit this page to see the updated results.

“I thank the voters of Newton for your trust in me. I pledge to justify that trust by thinking big within our means, by planning the work and working the plan, and by standing up for Newton’s core principles of respect, diversity and acceptance. And I promise I will never stop listening – or learning,” said Fuller in statement she emailed to her followers and supporters at 9 p.m.

Newton is a city with a population of about 89,000 people, of those, only about 56,000 people are registered to vote. When it comes to local elections the number of voters who show up range from 10 percent to 20 percent, according to David Olson the city's clerk. During the preliminary election more than 20 percent showed up to cast votes. But Olson sees this election similar to the last mayoral election and expects (with absentee votes) some 40 percent will cast votes by the end of the day Nov. 7.

As of 9:45 p.m.: City Hall Hall results:

The mayoral election:

Mayoral candidates Ruthanne Fuller the Chestnut Hill mother of two grown boys takes on Scott Lennon the Newton Lifer with a daughter just starting out in Newton Public Schools. Until recently this race was considered rather tame by most elections standards. Then there was the ad incident.

Lennon said he simply meant to call out differences between the two candidates in his advertisement, Fuller said it sounded like sexism (and racism to her). That, in turn, garnered much attention and speculation about the intentions of both candidates.

The City Councilors:

In the city-wide elections for At-Large Councilors in Wards 1,2,3,5, voting is contested, where folks will have to choose two:

In Ward 1:

• Allan L. Ciccone, Jr.
• Janet J. Sterman
• Nicole Castillo
• Alison Leary

In Ward 2:

• Susan S. Albright
• Braden J. Houston
• Jacob Daniel Auchincloss

In Ward 3:

• Julia Malakie
• Andrea W. Kelley
• James R. Cote

In Ward 5:

• Andreae Downs
• Deborah J. Crossley
• Brian E. Yates

In the ward-only race there are contested races in

Ward 1 :

• Brenda Noel
• Richard B Blazer

Ward 6:

• Maria Scibelli Greenberg
• Franco Cedrone

The School Committee:

There were eight slots and 12 people running for those slots. Per the city charter, one school committee member must be elected from each of the eight wards in the city. So there were contested races in Wards 1, 2, 3, and 8. The incumbents in Ward 4, 5, and 6 were standing for reelection unopposed. Ward 2's Margaret Albright is the only incumbent who has a race this year. She won by about 10,000 votes sweeping her opponent, a recent Newton High School grad. Newcomer Matthew Miller won by 1,739 votes against opponent journalist Gail Spector.

Here they are in the order they appear on the ballot. Bold text indicates incumbent.

• Kathleen Marchi — Ward 1 — kathymarchi.com
• Bridget F. Ray-Canada — Ward 1 — bridgetraycanada.com
• Margaret L. Albright— Ward 2 — margaretalbright.org
• Cyrus Vaghar— Ward 2 — cyrusvaghar.com
• Eileen A. Sandberg — Ward 3 — eileensandberg.org
• Anping Shen - Ward 3
• Diana Fisher Gomberg — Ward 4 — diana4schools.org
• Steven Siegel — Ward 5 — stevesiegel.org
• Ruth E. Goldman — Ward 6 — Ruth's LOWV answers from last time she ran
• Kathleen Burdette Shields — Ward 7 — KathyShieldsForSchoolCommittee on Facebook
• Matthew B. Miller — Ward 8 — matt4schools.com (
• Gail S. Spector — Ward 8 — voteforgailspector.com.

The Charter Question:

The question asks whether Newton's city council should be smaller and take away the ward representation. Those, such as the League of Women Voters, who think the answer should be yes argue that reducing the size of the City Council it takes some of the cooks out of the kitchen, and also enables all Newton voters to vote for everyone on City Council, increasing accountability for elected officials. Those against the charter change worry that it could mean some neighborhoods get less personal representation, and it could concentrate power and limit a diversity of perspective. The vote: Did not pass.

Read up:

• Ruthanne Fuller Wants To Be Newton's First Female Mayor
• Scott Lennon Has Wanted To Be Newton's Mayor Since He Was 15
• Newton's Election: How The Day Went At The Polls
• Newton School Committee Race 2017: Who Is Running?
• Newton Mayoral Ad Controversy: Fuller Vs Lennon