On a Lynn preliminary election day when fewer than one in six voters went to the polls, School Committeeman Jared Nicholson scored a clear, first-round win in the race for mayor.
Tallying 3,220 votes for Nicholson to 2,593 votes for City Council President Darren Cyr and 2,286 votes for School Committeeman Michael Satterwhite, Nicholson and Cyr will face off Nov. 2 in the final election.
Satterwhite’s third-place finish on Tuesday did not take away from the passionate campaign he ran and the urgent message he sought to communicate to voters during campaign debates.
Repeating the words, “It’s vital,” during The Daily Item and Spanish language newspaper La Voz (both published by Essex Media Group)/Lynn Business Partnership’s Sept. 8 debate, Satterwhite demonstrated his deep love for his city and how an upbringing that included homelessness did not detract from that love.
Cyr found himself on the losing end of the most important vote the City Council took all year when members supported the Housing Lynn Plan 8-2 with Cyr and Ward 2 Councilor Rick Starbard (who won the Ward 2 preliminary race handily on Tuesday) voting against the plan (Ward 1 Councilor Wayne Lozzi was not present for the vote).
Cyr’s “smoke and mirrors” criticism of the plan with its long-range vision for housing affordability in Lynn stood in contrast to Nicholson’s statement that the Plan is, “A great starting point with clear priorities.”
During the Sept. 8 debate, Cyr emphasized the need to build new schools and successful efforts to pull the city out of financial receivership four years ago. But Nicholson struck a chord when he spoke in support of the unarmed crisis response team as a city public safety tool “the community has asked for.”
It’s hard not to sense that Nicholson’s inclusive perspective on city issues and his positions on them versus Cyr’s more rigid outlook hit the right tone with voters. If Nicholson has a potential shortcoming in the eyes of parochial Lynn voters, it is that he has lived in Lynn for fewer years than born-and-bred Lynner Cyr has served on the council.
Nicholson did well in Wards 1, 5, and 6 while Cyr grabbed Ward 3 — his home ward. A more interesting tally from the unofficial city election returns is the fact that in the eight precincts where Satterwhite finished first, Cyr finished third in all but Ward 4/Precinct 2.
The voters have their work cut out for them over the next month and a half. The same holds true for Peabody and Salem counterparts, where Wards 4 and 5 feature contests in Peabody and Salem features a mayoral showdown between Councilor Steve Dibble and Mayor Kimberley Driscoll as well as four contested wards.
The voters have candidates to analyze and choices to make in determining who will be Lynn’s next mayor. We hope voter turnout on Nov. 2 is higher than the 15 percent turnout on Tuesday.
