Salem Ward 1 City Council Showdown Set For November Election

SALEM, MA — For the first time in 16 years Salem's Ward 1 will have a new City Council representative starting in January.

Following Tuesday's preliminary election, that successor to longtime Councilor Robert McCarthy — who opted not to run for re-election after serving as interim mayor for five months this past winter and spring — will all but certainly be former Salem police officer Cindy Jerzylo or former Democratic Committee and Affordable Housing Trust chairperson Chris Malstrom.

Jerzylo and Malstrom advanced to the November general election in the Ward 1 City Council vote held on Tuesday.

Ward 1 was the only one in Salem that required a vote in the preliminary election.

Jerzylo and Malstrom were the top two vote-getters with longtime hospitality businessman Armand Blanchette finishing a distant third.

There were 615 votes cast in Ward 1 with Jerzylo gaining 315, Malstrom 275 and Blanchette 24, according to unofficial results.

"I am so incredibly thankful for everyone who turned out to vote, both for me and just in general," Malstrom said in a statement to Patch on Tuesday night. "I'm incredibly excited to continue on this race, talk to even more folks in the ward and work to connect with anyone I've missed so far.

"It's been such a privilege getting to know the people of Ward 1 and I can't wait to push that further and see bigger turnout numbers in November. Clearly, there's a lot more work to be done, especially in The Point, so October is going to heavily focus on get-out-the-vote efforts and ensuring residents know to vote on November 7."

Blanchette conceded the race shortly after 8 p.m. and announced his support for Jerzylo on his Facebook page.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)