NORTHAMPTON — Voters will go to the polls on Tuesday to narrow the field of candidates in the race to find the city’s next mayor.
The top two finishers in the preliminary election will square off in the municipal election on Nov. 2, with the winner going on to succeed David Narkewicz. Elected in 2011, Narkewicz has been reelected twice. He announced in January that he would not seek reelection.
Northampton City Clerk Pamela Powers said last week that, based on interest so far, she is not expecting a very high turnout for the preliminary.
“It won’t be very much,” she said.
She predicted a total of around 5,000 votes out of a little more than 21,000 registered voters. That would be a turnout of just under 24%.
Polls will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Friday was the last day for early voting in person.
The deadline for applying to vote by mail was Wednesday. People who have not yet returned their completed ballot need to get it to the city clerk by the close of polling on Tuesday.
This year, the city has received 500 requests for mail-in ballots, and those are still being returned, she said.
The in-person early voting sessions have attracted around 100 people per day.
Powers anticipates around 1,000 ballots to be cast either by mail or in-person early voting, and around 4,000 at the polls on Tuesday.
Turnout in other communities’ preliminary elections last week was also low. Holyoke, which also had a mayoral preliminary, had a turnout of around 19%. Chicopee, which had only a school committee and a city council race on the ballot, recorded an all-time low turnout of 1.9%, or 733 votes total.
In Northampton’s September primary election a year ago, 11,037 ballots were cast for a turnout of around 50%.
But the primary then and the preliminary now are similar only in that they are preliminary elections, and direct comparisons of turnouts would be an apples to oranges kind of thing.
For the 2020 primary there were several statewide races on the ballot, including contested races for the Republican and Democratic nominees for U.S. Senate. There was also a heightened interest in elections because of the 2020 presidential election.
This year there are just two races, a runoff for mayor and for two at-large seats on the City Council.
Powers said she did not know if there is a general lack of interest this year, or if people are just holding back until they see who the mayoral finalists are for the November election.
The candidates for a four-year term as mayor are Shanna Fishel, Roy Martin, Gina-Louise Sciarra and Marc Warner. A fifth candidate, Rosechana Gordon, will appear on the preliminary ballot even though she dropped out of the race last month.
The only other race on the ballot is for two at-large city council seats. There are five candidates on the ballot: Michael J. Quinlan, David Alan Murphy, Marissa Elkins, Jamila E. Gore and Michelle A. Serra.
The top four finishers will be in a runoff on Nov. 2.
Warner is the owner of Warner Transportation Consulting Inc. in Florence. He has served on various Northampton committees and moderated the 2013 state Democratic platform hearing in Northampton. He is also treasurer for Common Cause Massachusetts, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to expanding elections access and getting money out of politics.
Sciarra has been on the City Council for the last eight years, serving as the Ward 4 councilor for three terms, and more recently as a councilor at large. Since January she has been the council president, and prior to that served as vice president. She is also chair of the finance committee and vice chair of the legislative matters committee.
She works full-time as the communications manager for Pathlight, a regional nonprofit that helps people with intellectual or developmental disabilities and autism.
Fishel is an activist, social worker and former special education teacher. She has master’s degrees in clinical social work and special education.
Martin, a homeless advocate, has run for mayor nine times previously, losing each time, since 1997.
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September 26, 2021 at 05:37PM
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Northampton clerk predicts low voter turnout for Tuesday preliminary - MassLive.com
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