LYNN – Lynn voters have decisively approved borrowing $90 million to build a new Thurgood Marshall Middle School.Though official tallies have yet to be announced, the school question was receiving a resounding “yes” in virtually every precinct as of 8:30 p.m., with 5,739 votes in favor to 1,338 against, or 81 percent to 19 percent.The voter turnout was 16.9 percent, according to Lynn City Clerk Mary Audley.They also nominated Dianna Chakoutis and Jake Keo in Ward 5, with Chakoutis collecting 476 votes to Keo’s 187. Candidate Seth Albaum received 182 votes. He said that while he “respects the process” he is asking for a recount.Meanwhile, incumbent Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy received 4,680 votes to challenger Timothy Phelan’s 3,428, a 57 to 42 percent plurality. Phelan has his work cut out for him if the councilor at large hopes to unseat the first-term Kennedy in November.”I need you to know, usually when you see a pretty significant win like that, it wakes a sleeping giant,” said Kennedy to her supporters at the Franco-American Club on Western Avenue.”There’s no better poll than an election day and the numbers aren’t looking good for us,” Phelan said to about 40 supporters gathered at his Myrtle Street headquarters. “But my parents always taught me when you get knocked down, ya gotta get right back on your feet, so that’s what I’m going to do, start working a little harder tomorrow.
“I’ll have to analyze the vote and it will take me a few days to do that, then we’ll sit down with our people and see where we go from here.
“I’m not giving up. I’m going to keep working hard and see what happens. I think we have to do a better job of getting our message out and that will be my goal.”
The Daily Item reporters Sean Leonard, Chris Stevens, Kait Taylor, Joyce Erekson and Samara DiMouro and photographers Owen O’Rourke and Angela Owens are working on the story. Complete returns, including charts and exclusive analysis will appear in the Wednesday’s edition of The Daily Item and on Itemlive.com.
