Election Day: Final chance for voters to weigh in on makeup of City Hall Tuesday

WORCESTER — Voters will have their final chance to weigh in on the makeup of City Hall Tuesday.

The municipal election, with polls opening at 7 a.m., will decide the mayor for the next two years, as well as members of the City Council and School Committee.

Polls close at 8 p.m. There is no school in Worcester Tuesday because of Election Day.

Many voters have already made their choices, through mail-in ballots or during the weeklong in-person, early-voting session.

City Clerk Nikolin Vangjeli is hoping for a strong turnout. In the 2021 municipal election, 16.6% of registered voters cast ballots.

The ballot is headlined by the race for mayor, where incumbent Joseph M. Petty is bidding for his seventh two-year term. He is being challenged by City Councilors Khrystian E. King and Donna M. Colorio, as well as Bill Coleman and Guillermo Creamer Jr.

Under Worcester’s charter, candidates for mayor also run for at-large city councilor seats. Not all at-large candidates opted to seek the mayor’s seat. To be elected mayor, a candidate must place first in the mayor’s race and also finish among the top six in the at-large City Council race.

There are 11 candidates for the six at-large seats on the City Council. All five of the district seats on the council are contested.

City workers Michael Rossi and Fred Vickers, back, roll in ballot boxes as they help set up polls at Worcester Technical High School Monday.

On the ballot for City Council, including mayoral candidates:

At-large City Council: Petty, King, Colorio, Coleman, Creamer, Kate Toomey, incumbent Thu Nguyen, incumbent Morris A. Bergman, Maydee Morales, Domenica F. Perrone and Johanna Hampton-Dance.

District 1: Jenny Pacillo vs. David C. Peterson

District 2: Incumbent Candy F. Mero-Carlson vs. Robert A. Bilotta

District 3: Incumbent George J. Russell vs. Feanna Jattan-Singh

District 4: Katia Gisela Norford vs. Luis Albizu Ojeda

District 5: Incumbent Etel Haxhiaj vs. Jose Antonio Rivera

Election stories Helping you decide: T&G coverage of the Worcester municipal election

The School Committee election is different this year, with the panel no longer filled by only at-large seats. There will be two at-large seats and six district seats, to be labeled A through F. The mayor also serves on the committee.

The change followed a lawsuit that the all at-large method was discriminatory.

School Committee districts, Worcester

On the ballot for School Committee:

At-large School Committee: Incumbent Susan M. Mailman, incumbent Laura B. Clancey, incumbent Tracy O’Connell Novick and Maureen F. Binienda.

District A: Incumbent Molly McCullough, unopposed

District B: Vanessa Zuleyma Alvarez, unopposed

District C: Incumbent Jermoh V. Kamara vs. Dianna Biancheria

District D: Alejandro Guardiola, unopposed

District E: Nelly Medina vs. Kathleen L. Roy

District F: Incumbent Jermaine Lamont Johnson, unopposed

Some voters in Worcester and communities north of the city will see another race on the ballot. The open state Senate seat, from the Worcester and Hampshire district, will be filled by one of two state representatives: Peter Durant, a Republican who represents Spencer, and Jonathan Zlotnik, a Democrat who represents Gardner.

The post has been open for several months, since Anne Gobi stepped down to take on the role of state director of rural affairs.

The Worcester and Hampshire district includes Gardner, part of Worcester (Ward 7 Precincts 2, 4, 5 and 6, Ward 9 Precincts 3 and 4), and the towns of Barre, Brookfield, East Brookfield, Hardwick, Holden, Hubbardston, Leicester, New Braintree, North Brookfield, Oakham, Paxton, Phillipston, Princeton, Rutland, Spencer, Sterling, Templeton, Ware, West Brookfield and Westminster.

Also Tuesday, voters in Gardner, Fitchburg, Leominster and Marlborough will be voting in municipal elections.

In Gardner, Mayor Michael Nicholson is being challenged by Kimberly Ann Blake. In Fitchburg, Mayor Stephen DiNatale faces Samantha Squailia. In Leominster, Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella, who has filled the seat since 1994, is unopposed.

In Marlborough, City Councilors J. Christian Dumai and Samantha Perlman are squaring off for mayor, seeking to replace Arthur Vigeant, who is not seeking reelection.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Final chance for voters to weigh in on makeup of City Hall Tuesday