LYNN ― Jared Nicholson and Darren Cyr will advance in the race for mayor after opponent Michael Satterwhite was eliminated in Tuesday’s preliminary election.
School Committee member Nicholson topped the ticket, taking 3,220 votes, or 39.7 percent. City Council President Cyr came in second at 2,593 (31.9 percent), leaving School Committee member Satterwhite with 2,286 (28.2 percent).
Nicholson and Cyr will appear on the ballot on Nov. 2.
Nicholson, celebrating his victory at Trio’s Mexican Grill, thanked his campaign team for their hard work and said he was excited to move forward in the race.
“We’re really excited to continue doing this over the next seven weeks,” he said. “We built a campaign that reaches the whole city, and we’ll continue to build on that for a better Lynn that includes all of us.”
At a watch party at Rolly’s Tavern on the Square, Cyr also thanked his supporters, and said that he would continue working to win the election.
“My vision is a lot different than what my opponent’s is, and there’s two paths we can go down now,” he said. “It’s whatever the voters decide. They’re picking a candidate for the next mayor. I’ve given everything I’ve had, my blood, my soul, to this city. No matter what happens, I’m always going to live here.”
Satterwhite said that he was happy with the support that he received.
“I’m going to sleep on it and see what’s going to happen next,” he said.
Turnout in the election was low, with just 14.8 percent of registered voters casting a ballot.
This year’s mayoral election is the first since 2001 to not feature an incumbent mayor. The late Patrick J. McManus decided to not run that year.
When Thomas M. McGee announced in March his decision not to run, Cyr and Nicholson were quick to jump into the race. Satterwhite followed shortly after with his own announcement that he would be seeking the corner office.
This year’s mayoral contest featuring three established candidates with political records is also a political dynamic that hasn’t been seen in Lynn in 30 years.
In 1991, then-Councilor McManus faced off against Mayor Albert V. DiVirgilio and former Councilor and Southern Essex Register of Deeds John L. O’Brien Jr.
Even before Tuesday’s low preliminary turnout, McGee expressed concern about voters staying away from the polls. On Tuesday, he noted that turnout in the final election, in which he handily beat former Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy in 2017, was 28 percent.
Election wins are defined in part by candidate visibility. Satterwhite’s green-and-white billboards hovered over Lynn, while Cyr’s red-and-white signs and banners with his name featured prominently dotted the city. Nicholson’s signs adorned lawns and all three candidates did the customary mail drop of campaign placards underscoring candidates’ records and positions on the issues.
According to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, the latest report shows Cyr’s cash on hand of $66,776 was about twice as much as Tuesday’s top vote-getter, Nicholson, who had $32,306. The latest report showed Satterwhite had $2,165 cash on hand.
Nicholson said Tuesday afternoon that he was feeling optimistic and excited about election day.
“We’ve been stopping by the polls to say hi to the volunteers and reaching out to voters to get hold of people and remind them that today’s the day,” he said. “We feel like we’re getting out there trying to answer people’s questions and making sure they know where to go.”
Campaigning outside Shoemaker Elementary, Satterwhite said that he was feeling good about the support he was getting. He said that in addition to holding signs outside of the polls, volunteers for his campaign were offering rides to polling stations for voters.
“When people send me a message, it’s not just, ‘I voted,’ it’s ‘I brought my family to vote for you,'” Satterwhite said. “That’s what makes the difference.”
While Shoemaker, like many of the other polling locations, was fairly quiet during the preliminary election, many more residents congregated at Thurgood Marshall Middle School, the polling place for Ward 3. There, voters cast their ballots for not just the mayoral race, but for their ward councilor, as Cyr’s run for mayor had left the only open seat on the council.
“It’s lower turnout than what we were imagining, but the response seems to be good,” Cyr said. “At the end of the day, you got three good people running, and I think all three of us did a pretty good job keeping it like business.”
