By Josh Resnek
Next week the city’s voters, the ultimate jury, will decide who shall win and who shall lose in the citywide election.
This year’s election occurs against a backdrop of general voter apathy, with only a small percentage of Everett’s almost 23,000 voters expected to cast a vote.
Without a mayoral election or a presidential election, voters interest tends to wane.
Two to three thousand votes have already been cast early but not yet tallied by the city’s election officials.
That will occur on Election Day, in preparation for the full vote tallies that will be counted up and issued to the public on Election Night.
By 10 p.m. on election night the votes will have been tallied and the winners separated from the losers.
History is difficult to predict before it happens.
Who will win in this municipal election?
If history is a measure by which the outcome should be predicted then we know this:
Councilors Mike Marchese, and John Hanlon are as close to sure winners as candidates can be in the at large contest.
So too is Stephanie Smith, who is rising, and may likely top the ticket. She topped it in the primary. There is every likelihood she will do this in the finale on Election Day.
For ticket toppers there are implications – that is – the future looms hotter for ticket toppers.
Where there is some talk about the mayor not running again, should she top the ticket, she becomes an instant possible, viable mayoral candidate.
Marchese said he will run for mayor next time around no matter what.
Then there are the contenders for an open seat left by Councilor Richard Dell Isola who is retiring, and for the seat held my Irene Cardillo.
Cardillo must improve on her inexplicably weak primary vote to hold off others campaigning hard for it.
This includes Guerline Alcy, who scored well in the primary. It also includes Katie Rogers, who also scored well.
And it might likely include Maria Bussell, a die hard independent candidate who was not too far away from the contenders for the empty seat. Had Bussell not been hospitalized last week, she would have been campaigning.
Joseph Perotti is also making a strong run for an at large seat. He is demanding accountability from the administration.
The Darren Costa Anthony DiPierro race pits DiPierro’s friends and relative in the ward, against Costa voters who like what he’s been doing on the council since DtPierro resigned.
Costa claims there is a strong undercurrent among many voters who say they prefer him to DiPierro.
As for DiPierro, he has done what he has done for years – placed dozens of signs everywhere in the ward and he walks around like a winner before all the votes have been counted.
He may be the winner but Costa is fighting to survive the DiPierro onslaught.
Peter Pietrantonio is an affable, engaging resident of his ward.
He is facing Councilor Al Lattanzi. Lattanzi is not overconfident. However close supporters say he believes he cannot lose, and certainly not to the upstart Pietrantonio.
For his part, Pietrantonio is making good use of his popularity among the ward’s residents and homeowners by creating the distinction that he is free to vote as he wants and sees fit – and this is very different from Lattanzi who is walking tied at the hip with the administration.
Van Campen has been out campaigning.
He is a vigorous campaigner from the old school – knocking on doors and maintaining personal connections in the ward.
He has apparently knocked on everyone’s door several times, which would be typical Van Campen, that is, wanting to hear what the residents have to say.
Nguyen’s campaign has not
Holly Garcia’s battle to unseat Councilor Jimmy Tri Le is considered a toss-up following the close primary election vote which found Garcia 2 votes ahead of Le.
Can she repeat this on Election Day?
Can newcomer Joetta Yutkins unseat Councilor Stephanie Martins?
We shall soon enough find out.
On the School Committee side voters will make choices to choose Margaret Cornelio or Millie Cardello in Ward 1 and Samanatha Hurley enters politics looking strong in the at large arena.
Will Thomas Abruzzese make it back on to the school committee or will Joseph D’Onofrio manage to beat him in Ward 6?