Somerville and Medford residents who on Tuesday flocked to the polls to vote in local elections favored incumbents in several posts, re−electing Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn and Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone.
McGlynn beat first−time opponent Anthony D'Antonio with 64 percent of the vote. McGlynn will serve a 13th term in office, making him the longest−serving mayor in Massachusetts.
Curtatone ran unopposed and will serve as Somerville's mayor for a fifth consecutive term.
Approximately 21 percent of registered voters turned out for the Tuesday elections according to City of Somerville Director of Communications Tom Champion.
"While that is certainly a low turnout, my impression is that it was actually appreciably higher than in the last couple of off−year elections, when there were no state−wide or national candidates on the ballot," Champion told the Daily. "It's nice to see that there were a number of races that clearly motivated people to turn out."
Somerville residents re−electedalderman−at−large candidates John Connolly, Bruce Desmond, Dennis Sullivan and Bill White.
Connolly, who has over 25 years of experience as both an alderman and an alderman−at−large, said that he will focus his next term on the development of Assembly Square and the new Orange Line Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) T stop.
"The development of Assembly Square, which is going to be a billion dollar development over the next 10 to 15 years, is what really excites me," Connolly told the Daily. "We're going to be seeing some major improvements here, and that's really going to help the development of the city."
Additionally, Connolly said that he would like to see the MBTA Green Line expand to Somerville in the near future.
"Bringing the Green Line into Somerville, particularly to Tufts and Ball Square, is going to be huge for us, so that's a major focus," he said.
The members of Somerville's Board of Aldermen from Wards 1, 2, 5 and 6 and all members of the city's School Committee ran unopposed in Tuesday's election.
Alderman RebekahGewirtz will again represent Somerville's Ward 6, which covers about half of Tufts campus.
Incumbent Ward 7 Alderman Bob Trane narrowly beat his opponent, KatjanaBallantyne, by 40 votes, according to unofficial results.
Tufts Democrats Speakers Coordinator Seth Rau, a senior, said that the Tufts Democrats supported and campaigned for Ballantyne. They supported her over Trane primarily because they saw Trane as uninterested in the needs of Tufts students.
According to Rau, had Tufts students voted in greater numbers, Ballantyne could have overcome Trane in Tuesday's election.
"Tufts students should actually care about what goes on in their community," Rau said. "There are more Tufts students who live in Somerville than the margin of votes."
Rau said that Trane's win on Tuesday will result in higher and stricter enforcement of fines relating to noise violations.
"We could have easily made the difference in this election, but we chose not to, and the fact that we chose not too is going to lead to higher fines for Tufts students," he added. "Now, Trane can say, ‘Tufts students don't vote. Why should we care about them?'"
In Ward 4 in Somerville, Tony Lafuente edged out challenger Christine Barber after former Ward 4 Alderman Walter Pero decided not to seek election.
Tom Taylor was reelected as Ward 3 alderman while currently engaged in a battle against cancer.
In Medford, residents elected Erin DiBenedetto and former member Robert E. Skerry, Jr. to the six−person School Committee, replacing William O'Keefe and Sharon Guzik.
The seven−person Medford City Council will remain largely the same, with Richard Caraviello taking Mark Arena's spot.
