Ward 6 Preliminary Elections Update - SNN #49

Somerville’s Ward Six held preliminary elections for alderman on Thursday, September 17. Four candidates faced off to earn one of the two spots on November’s ballot. The seat is open because ten-year incumbent Rebekah Gewirtz chose not to run again.

Nicholas Salerno, Chairman of Somerville’s Election Commission, told SNN that he did not expect a large turnout for a one-ward preliminary election. He cited a similar election in Boston that saw only 7% of voters casting ballots. But the issue of affordable housing brought out more than 15% of eligible voters.

“I’ve bounced around a lot of houses for the last few years in ward six, but its tough to find a place that’s affordable at all, and then a place that’s affordable and not falling apart is just really challenging,” Simon Metcalf told us as he left a polling place near Davis Square.

Other voters echoed this sentiment. “I think there are a lot of pressing issues here in Somerville, like affordability. I’m personally a renter. I live in a house with 14 other people,” said another Ward Six resident. “I think we could use some regulation on renting, on property management companies. That’s what I’m hoping the Ward 6 alderman will address.”

Lance Davis took the top spot, with 54% of the vote, followed by Elizabeth Weinbloom with 16%. Davis and Weinbloom will meet again in November’s city-wide election.

We’ll be hearing much more about affordability between now and November from the candidates.

Somerville Neighborhood News is a production of Somerville Community Access Television, made by professional journalists, volunteers and staff. The half-hour news show has as its mission to provide a lively, informative newscast focusing on the events, issues and information impacting Somerville residents.