Phelan tops At-Large seat tallies

LYNN – Newcomers and familiar faces vying for Councilor At-Large and Ward seats gathered together at City Hall as the final numbers came pouring in for the primary election held on Tuesday.In total, 4,450 votes were tallied, with incumbent City Council President Timothy Phelan scoring the most votes amongst Councilor At-Large candidates.With a total of 2,285 votes, Phelan said he is confident about the final election.”It’s a good feeling. I wish it was the finals,” he said. “But I’m not going to take anything for granted. If you do the job, people in Lynn listen and pay attention.”Former School Committee member and Councilor At-Large candidate Judith Flanagan Kennedy came in second behind Phelan with 2,047 votes.”I’m really happy with the results, but I have to keep reminding myself that I came in third in the primary, and ended up losing the election in 2005, so I have to keep working hard,” she said. “I had no idea if people would even remember me, so I’m very happy to see that people might want me back.”Incumbent Councilor At-Large Paul Crowley came in third place with 1,840 votes, Daniel Cahill placed fourth with 1,570 votes, Stephen John Duffy received 1,312 votes for the fifth spot, and newcomer Gary Roach received 671 votes.”I probably need to spend more time in the Wards interfacing with people, and I certainly need to use more signs and advertisements because I’m not even in the same arena as the other candidates,” Roach said. “I’m not discouraged though by the numbers even though they sound low. I’ll give it my honest effort and work harder to get the message out.”Arthur Fiste, a six-year veteran of the School Committee who entered the race as a write in candidate last week, is challenging incumbent Ward 1 City Councilor Wayne Lozzi for a seat on the council.Fiste received 429 votes, while Lozzi received 713 votes.”I couldn’t be any happier with the turnout?I feel like Seabiscut,” Coppola said. “I was only looking for say 120 votes, so I’m very, very pleased. Once a name is on a ballot, it makes a big difference. The votes show me that there are a lot of people who are concerned within Ward 1, so I’m on the ballot now, let’s go!”Lozzi said he wasn’t surprised to learn that Fiste received more than enough votes to secure a spot on the ballot.”Arthur has name recognition and he knows how to campaign, so it’s a level playing field,” he said. “It all starts tomorrow, and I have to get to work.”Confident about the upcoming November election, Lozzi said he is pleased with the outcome and support from residents in Ward 1.”If people think I haven’t done a good job, its because I haven’t communicated all of my accomplishments enough,” he said. “I work very hard, and we’ll have to see what happens in the next six weeks.”Ward 2 Councilor William Trahant, who is running unopposed, received 386 votes, with 10 write-ins.Ward 3 City Councilor Darren Cyr, who is also running unopposed, received 257 votes, with nine write-ins.Ward 4 City Councilor Richard Colucci received 157 votes, while newcomer Ceferino Rosa received 68 votes as a write in candidate.Incumbent Ward 5 City Councilor Paula Mackin received 284 votes, while her candidate James Stafford received 84 votes.”There is little apathy in Ward 5, but I’m going to work at it (campaign) and hope for the best,” he said.Ward 6 City Councilor Peter Capano, who is running unopposed, received 191 votes, with two write-ins.Former City Councilor Harry Coppola received 403 votes in the race against incumbent Ward 7 City Councilor Richard Ford who received 655 votes.”I’m very, very enthused with the turnout,” he said. “I focused on getting my name back out there and getting signs out there to let people know I’m running.”Coppola was jailed for a federal conviction in 1997 after he plead guilty to asking the owners of a county process service business to provide his boss, former Essex Sheriff Charles Reardon, with tickets to the South Shore Music Circus.Resigning from his council seat in 1