All four At Large candidates re-elected

By Andrew Firestone

Aldermen At Large Jack Connolly, secured his seat on the Board for another two years. - Photo by Harry Kane

In an election for the ages, results have shown a clear sign that voters were satisfied with their Aldermen. Perhaps it was the plethora of major votes that occurred, including the Assembly Square bond vote and the move to the GIC. But the incumbents won out in the end.

Aldermen At Large Dennis Sullivan, Jack Connolly, Bruce Desmond and William White all secured their seats on the Board for another two years.

“I’m humble and grateful for the overwhelming vote that I’ve received. I’m looking forward to returning to City Hall and doing the people’s business,” said Sullivan.

“I’m pleased and I’m happy to come back for two more years and experience obviously counts,” said Connolly, who remains one of the most elected aldermen in the history of the board.

“I’m just happy to be back on the Board for another two years,” said Desmond. “That’s the goal. I’m happy to be there. Some people ran some good races, pulled some good votes, but the people of Somerville were obviously satisfied,” he said.

“It’s a good team,” he said of his fellow incumbents.

William White could not be reached in time for print deadline of this publication.

(second from left) Ward 4 Alderman in Tony Lafuente. - Photo by Harry Kane

Ward 4 has a new Alderman in Tony Lafuente, who defeated Christine Barber 857 to 623 in unofficial results in the battle for Walter Pero’s vacated seat. Voting machines in Precinct 3 of Ward 4 suffered a computer glitch, which caused all ballots to be tallied by hand, leading to a late-night announcement inLafuente’s favor.

“I was just delighted that my neighbors in Ward 4 have placed their trust, and that is a job that I will do.” He said that he would start working hard right away, and get to work on the redevelopment of the Star Market site on Broadway and address public safety issues, “all the things that I’ve learned from my neighbors over the last eight months.”

In Ward 7, Bob Trane pulled off a narrow victory, winning the election 1143 to 1067 in unofficial results.

Trane congratulated his rival, Katjana Ballantyne. “It was a hard-fought campaign. She ran a great campaign.”

“In the end, I won out. People around here know, I’m a bridge from old Somerville to new. I have lots of values and I work hard for my constituents.”

Ballantyne said she was still in the picture to run again in two years. “It was a wonderful experience. The people that live in this ward want to be engaged. They want someone who is going to be responsive. They want someone who is going think the big pictures,” she said.

“I’ve just been grateful for all the friendships I’ve developed.  I’m committed here. This is just the beginning.”

“Bob may have won another two years, but I’m going to be here in two years,” she said.

At Large candidate Todd Easton said he was happy that he pulled over 3,00o votes. “I’ve been humbled by the experience,” he said.

“There is a core out there that show that they’re interested in having change come to Somerville, and it’s something to build on. I’m going to do what I can to keep building on it,” he said.

Mike Nionakis, another challenger to the At Large table, said that it would be the last time we saw his name on the ballot. “Me and my campaign, we did we what we thought we had to do and it just didn’t happen. I’m not happy with the results but I’m happy with what happened,” he said, calling himself the “luckiest guy alive. “You know how much fun we had this summer,” he said.

~Photos by Donald Norton, Bobbie Toner and Harry Kane