MALDEN — It was a night for incumbents.
Ward 3 City Councilor John Matheson came out on top in Tuesday’s preliminary election beating challenger Candace L. Julyan.
Matheson received 407 votes, while second-place finisher Julyan captured 267 votes.
In Ward 8, City Councilor Jadeane Sica, who received 163 votes, will face Richard J. Correale Sr., who garnered 101 votes.
In the Ward 3 School Committee race for an open seat, Mekka Alicia Smith topped the ticket with 284 votes while Jennifer M. Spadafora came in next with 248 votes. Julianne M. Orsino finished third and was eliminated with 179 votes.
Orsino will still play a role in the final election, though not appearing on the ballot, as it remains to be seen whom her backers will support in November.
Another close finish came in the Ward 6 City Council race, where Jerry Leone, the sitting Ward 6 School Committeeman, bested political newcomer David Camell by just 12 votes, 172-160. The pair will square off in November with the winner moving into the vacant seat left by the resignation of former longtime Councilor Neil Kinnon. Joseph Gray (31 votes) was eliminated in that three-man field.
True to form, the preliminary election was underwhelming in its voter turnout numbers, barely breaking double digits with just 11 percent trudging to the polls.
All told, just 1,384 voters out of 12,577 registered in the three wards involved in the preliminary election races went to the polls. The most anemic turnout for a ward precinct, perhaps in Malden electoral history, came in Ward 6, Precinct 2, where only 65 voters out of 1,944 registered there came out to cast their vote, a mere 3 percent.
The final election is set for Tuesday, Nov. 7.
