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Winchester voters elected 68 Town Meeting members across all eight precincts Saturday, with contested races in six of them eliminating 11 candidates who sought seats in the town's legislative body. Turnout across town was 32.3 percent, with 4,876 of the town's 15,115 registered voters casting ballots.
Four sitting members lost their seats. Precinct 7 saw the sharpest turnover, where incumbents Brian P. Rowan and Lauren L. L'Esperance were both ousted in an 11-candidate field — the largest on the ballot alongside Precinct 4. In Precinct 5, incumbent I-Ching Katie Scott fell short despite earning 218 votes. And in Precinct 2, incumbent David S. Judelson was edged out by just two votes in a race so tight it could shift with certification.
Several candidates who had lost in prior years mounted successful comebacks, including Bhavana Upadhyaya in Precinct 4, Jeffrey Calabrese and Jonathan H. Cacciola in Precinct 6, and Gregory M. Bilton in Precinct 5.
Precincts 1 and 8 were the only two where every candidate on the ballot won. The Precinct 2 one-year seat had no named candidate, drawing only 35 write-in votes.
Precinct 1 (uncontested — eight seats, eight candidates)
654 ballots cast; 33.2% turnout
All incumbents returned and won. Ann Sera did not seek re-election. John M. Vickery is new to the precinct's delegation.
- Christa M. Anzalone-Russo, 333
- Amanda G. Lewis, 333
- Enzo Rascionato, 326
- Gregory S. Sawicki, 323
- Roger B. Wilson Jr., 314
- Meredith A. Mason-Crowley, 312
- Marilyn A. Gagalis, 311
- John M. Vickery, 309
Precinct 2, three-year term (contested — eight seats, nine candidates)
478 ballots cast; 29.9% turnout
Incumbent David S. Judelson was unseated by just two votes, finishing with 178 to Brian M. Sogoloff's 180 for the last seat — a margin that could change with certification. Soumya Ganapathy
did not seek re-election. John H. Bellaire and Sara E. Yablon-Smith are new to the delegation.
- Michelle H. Blumsack, 242
- Richard M. Rohan, 241
- John H. Bellaire, 239
- Mike Galvin, 206
- Sara E. Yablon-Smith, 196
- Jay M. Melkonian, 195
- Benjamin D. Keeler, 180
- Brian M. Sogoloff, 180
David S. Judelson fell short with 178 votes. The one-year seat had no named candidate on the ballot.
Precinct 3, three-year term (contested — eight seats, 10 candidates)
732 ballots cast; 36.3% turnout
Four incumbents — Heather S. Mango, Joan M. Grenzeback, John M. Looney and Lauren Costello — chose not to run again, the most departures in any precinct. All incumbents who did seek re-election won. Former School Committee member Michelle D. Bergstrom, who stepped down from that board in February after nine years, kept her Town Meeting seat.
- Keri Layton, 350
- Susan Kopman Lewis, 342
- Gerard F. Sheehan, 338
- Lance R. Grenzeback, 324
- Michelle D. Bergstrom, 315
- Elisa M. Jazan, 276
- Rachel M. Chidsey, 267
- Rocio Friedman, 202
John Fallon III (192) and Vincent James Patalano II (179) fell short. Jennifer D. Infurna won the one-year term unopposed with 416 votes.
Precinct 4 (contested — eight seats, 11 candidates)
670 ballots cast; 32.8% turnout
All six returning incumbents won. Steven Bonnell did not run again. Bhavana Upadhyaya, who had previously lost a Precinct 4 race, came back and won. Celine F. Kimberly is also new.
- Brian A. Vernaglia, 304
- Brian R. McCarthy, 290
- Susan F. Schwartz, 280
- Celine F. Kimberly, 238
- Stephen A. Engel, 235
- My Linh Truong, 235
- Bhavana Upadhyaya, 227
- Jared N. Cumming, 226
Leigh M. Schopp (222), John F. Healey (213) and Aaron M. Shwom (125) fell short.
Precinct 5, three-year term (contested — eight seats, nine candidates)
628 ballots cast; 31.9% turnout
Incumbent I-Ching Katie Scott was unseated. Three incumbents — Heidi R. Rutstein DiLeo, Janice A. Dolan and Alan H. Field — did not seek re-election. Gregory M. Bilton, who had previously lost a Precinct 5 race, came back to win.
- Norah K. Cooney, 279
- Stefanie Mnayarji, 266
- Kathryn J. Hughes, 260
- Charlene C. Band, 257
- Gregory M. Bilton, 253
- Mariano Goluboff, 245
- Donna M. Ashton, 229
- Peter N. Cheimets, 222
I-Ching Katie Scott fell short with 218 votes. Nicholas F. Troisi (295), John I. Snow III (288) and Caroline B. Staudt (263) won the three one-year terms unopposed.
Precinct 6 (contested — eight seats, nine candidates)
562 ballots cast; 28.0% turnout
All six returning incumbents held their seats. Taylor Tinmouth and James A. Johnson III did not run again. Jeffrey Calabrese and Jonathan H. Cacciola, who had each previously lost Precinct 6 races, both won this time.
- Philip A. Frattaroli, 329
- Jeffrey Calabrese, 296
- Richard M. Mucci, 254
- Catherine Cote Tomey, 247
- Patrick W. Matteson, 244
- Robert E. Colt, 239
- Michael F. Bettencourt, 237
- Jonathan H. Cacciola, 225
Marshall Roch fell short with 217 votes.
Precinct 7 (contested — eight seats, 11 candidates)
680 ballots cast; 35.0% turnout
The roughest night for incumbents. Brian P. Rowan and Lauren L. L'Esperance were ousted — the only precinct where more than one incumbent lost. Leigh Hurd did not seek re-election. Christina S. Marshall, David M. Rogers and Amy P. Hogan are new to the delegation.
- Jean S. Jones, 274
- Megan Blackwell, 271
- Thomas E. Hopcroft, 254
- Jennifer A. Haefeli, 253
- Christina S. Marshall, 243
- David M. Rogers, 237
- Stephen P. Campbell, 232
- Amy P. Hogan, 225
Brian P. Rowan (218), Lauren L. L'Esperance (208) and Laraine "Rainey" Lennon (179) fell short.
Precinct 8 (uncontested — seven candidates)
472 ballots cast; 30.0% turnout
All returning incumbents won. Wei Chen did not run again, leaving the precinct with seven candidates for what appears to be seven or eight available seats.
- Michael K. Creane, 255
- Raegan E. McCain, 251
- Alison H. Swallow, 246
- Donald P. Bradford, 246
- Rebecca J. Slisz, 245
- Catherine C. Bauer, 243
- Russell J. Gay, 223
The results are preliminary and subject to certification by Town Clerk MaryEllen Marshall.
Will Dowd is a Massachusetts journalist who covers municipal government and community life for Winchester News. He runs The Marblehead Independent, a reader-funded digital newsroom.
