'Political Ambush' Surfaces In Newton Days After 2021 Election

NEWTON, MA — Less than a week after Newton's local election, a light has been shined on some "dirty tricks" used to sway Ward 3 voters in the race between Jim Cote and incumbent Julia Malakie - tricks that involve Ward 2 Councilor Emily Norton.

The issue was first reported Wednesday by Newton resident Jerry Reilly on the local blog Village 14. In a post titled “Dirty tricks, a cemetery, a Nest video, and a City Councilor,” Reilly shared information about several last-minute efforts that seemed like an attempt to sabotage Cote's campaign, including an email sent out by a fake political group and the dispersal of fliers labeling Cote a Trump Republican.

"In a liberal bastion like Newton, no charge is more explosive than 'he’s a Trumper,' wrote Reilly.

Cote, a registered Republican who ran unsuccessfully against Malakie in last week's nonpartisan election, was previously elected to the City Council and never hid his party affiliation. However, according to the phony political group with, his plans were to "Make Newton Great Again."

"It was clearly designed to focus on the progressives that were already endorsing me," said Cote. "I lost by 500 votes. so that means if 250 people had changed their votes, I would have won. "

Here's what happened

The weekend before the election, many Ward 3 residents received an email with the subject line “Newton Trump Republicans For Jim Cote!” The message was sent by Newton GOP WARD 3 under the email address NewtongopW3@outlook.com and included some of Cote's most conservative tweets, including those attacking Democratic leaders and a photo of him with Geoff Diehl.

However, it was quickly discovered that Newton GOP WARD 3 does not exist and was created as a way to steer voters away from Cote's campaign by comparing him to Trump. The fake group even listed its address as 791 Walnut Street, which is the location of Newton Cemetery & Arboretum.

The following day, fliers with a similar message and no listed sponsor were dropped off at residents' homes. Unlike the email, these fliers explicitly said to vote for Malakie due to Cote's affiliation with the Republican Party. They also included pictures of Cote's tweets and attacked him for being against the "Welcoming City" ordinance, which protects undocumented immigrants from harassment.

The Monday before the election, Cote went to Facebook to ask people for door camera photos of those who handed out the flyers. One resident responded with a video of someone who looked just like Norton, a self-proclaimed Malakie supporter who later confirmed that it was indeed her handing out the fliers.

"I handed the flyers out in broad daylight, leaving them at people's homes and at times speaking with people at their homes, and very clearly was not trying to hide my identity," said Norton in an email. "I distributed the flyers because I believed it was important for voters to see Jim Cote's recent public statements that he had posted to Twitter and made to the Newton Tab. I was realizing that more liberal voters were not aware of how conservative Jim actually is, which I believe his tweets demonstrate."

"The differences in political philosophy between Julia and Jim are particularly relevant to me because I champion numerous environmental and other progressive ordinances, and when he served on the Council previously Jim opposed many of them," she continued. "In contrast I have worked closely with Julia on these issues in the City Council.

Cote said he has worked with Norton for a long time and she has known that he is Republican since the beginning, only now trying to use his part affiliation against him.

"I've known Emily for eight years and we've interacted politically for eight years," said Cote. "It was no secret who I am."

"The bottom line is Emily got caught," he continued.

Malakie said in an email that, although the tactics claimed to help her campaign, she did not know about the fake email or the flier until they were already released.

"No one consulted me about them, and if anyone had, I would have rejected both ideas," she said. "I have no desire to insult Republicans. I am Independent/Unenrolled myself, have friends and supporters across the political spectrum, and think that local elections should be based on local issues, because that's really the only way voters can affect what happens in Newton. We already have enough divisive issues in Newton with adding the nastiness of Washington DC."

In response to the Ward 3 scandal, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller released the following statement Sunday:

On Tuesday, Newtonians went to the polls to select their Mayor, City Councilors and School Committee members. This fundamental act of voting, the key ingredient in our great experiment in democracy, came at an unsettled time in our country.

All too often we are witnessing a lack of civility in our nation’s discourse; far too frequently, I have seen intolerance and vitriol online and in person; and with all too much regularity, I have heard sinister motives assigned to people who simply have a different point of view.

This coarseness is here in Newton as well.

Amy Sangiolo and I did our best to model what I believe we expect in elections: A shared love for Newton and a shared passion to tackle the challenges facing our city with campaigns focused on the policies and issues.

I condemn the tactics used in the Ward 3 race. This includes an email from a fake political group with a phony address with lies embedded within it and campaign literature dropped at the eleventh hour with no identification as to who wrote it or paid for it. The Boston Globe documents this shameful behavior.

These tactics are wrong. They are divisive. They are deceptive. They are manipulative. They are inconsistent with Newton’s values.

All the people who created and sent the emails and wrote and dropped off the literature need to take responsibility.

Cote said he believes he was targeting due to his support of affordable housing, a heated debate in the city. He was endorsed by local groups Vibrant Newton and Engine 6 due to his position, but many City Council members are not as keen on creating more low-income properties.

"Mentally they think, 'well I'm in a house, why do we need to create more housing?'" said Cote. "And they don't get it."

What now?

Cote initially filed a police report because the fake political group's address was a cemetery, thinking that it may be some kind of threat. Newton police are continuing to look into who produced the emails but have not provided any updates.

In addition, The Middlesex County DA, the Attorney General's office, and the Office of Campaign and Political Finance are investigating the situation. Cote also sent information to the city's elections office, mayor's office, and the legal team.

"They may not have any criminal evidence, but it's really an issue of political ethics," said Cote.