Local mayors David Narkewicz and Alex Morse have both succeeded in their bids for re-election in Northampton and Holyoke, respectively.
Morse, now 28, became Holyoke’s youngest ever mayor when he was elected for the first time in 2011. He defeated Jason P. “Jay” Ferreira, a former city councilor by 1,241 votes, according to figures provided by MassLive. At a debate between Morse and Ferreira hosted by 22News, the mayor said he’s “as energized and excited as I’ve ever been, just as I was six years ago when I was first elected here in the community.”
“I want to be everyone’s mayor. I always have been and I make the decisions that are best for the community, and I’m looking forward to being your mayor over the next four years,” he said.
The victory signals the beginning of Morse’ fourth consecutive term, which will officially commence when he is sworn in next January. The term will last four years, as Holyoke residents voted to increase the length of terms from two to four years in 2015. Morse received 4,557 votes compared to Ferreira’s 3,316, significantly less than the 5,429 he took in 2015 compared to then opponent Francis O’Connell’s 4,825 votes.
Turnout rose from 9 percent at 11 a.m. to 23 percent by 4:30 pm., City Clerk Brenna Murphy McGee reported, and totaled 30.49 percent of city’s 25,821 eligible voters overall.
Narkewicz comfortably saw off a challenge from John D. Riley to retain his position as mayor of Northampton, winning by a landslide, as stated by Masslive.
Narkewicz took 5,351 votes, while Riley’s total stood at 1,440.
Narkewicz ran on a continuity platform which emphasized fiscal responsibility and upholding community values, while, Riley had pledged to repeal the town‘s controversial “Stormwater & Flood Control Utility” ordinance and ban surveillance cameras in downtown Northampton.
Elections also took place nationwide on Tuesday night, with the Associated Press describing Democratic success in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races.
Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam was reported to have overcome Republican Ed Gillespie in a closely fought contest, while in New Jersey Democrat Phil Murphy defeated Republican nominee Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno to swing the state formerly led by Governor Chris Christie blue.
President Donald J. Trump was quick to distance himself from Gillespie’s defeat, tweeting “Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for. Don’t forget, Republicans won 4 out of 4 House seats, and with the economy doing record numbers, we will continue to win, even bigger than before!” shortly after the predicted results were announced.
In New York City, incumbent Bill De Blasio swept to victory as he was re-elected mayor, commanding over 60 percent of the vote as results came in. His closest challenger was Republican candidate Nicole Malliotakis, whose total stood at 29.1 percent at 10:16 p.m.
Glenn Houlihan can be reached at [email protected].
