Newton Special Election 2021: John Oliver, Tarik Lucas Win Seats

NEWTON, MA — John Oliver of Ward 1 and Tarik Lucas of Ward 2 were elected to the City Council Tuesday in a Special Election to fill two open seats.

Lucas and Oliver appear to have each bested their closest opponents by more than 1,000 votes, according to results Tuesday night.

Both Lucas and Oliver will have seats at the table as the city determines key zoning regulations and works through the economic and social fallout from the effects of the pandemic.

City Councilors-elect say thank you

Lucas thanked his volunteers and voters shortly after the 9 p.m. results, in a statement.

"Our campaign was focused on the issues that Newton voters care about, including affordable housing, the environment, our schools and restoring in person instruction, and investing in our infrastructure that is in sore need of attention," he said in a statement. "I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to all of the people in Newton who shared in our vision, and to my fellow candidates who had the courage to stand up and fight to make things better for people in this City. I look forward to being your voice on the Newton City Council."

Shortly after that, Oliver's campaign issued a statement also thanking the community.

"As your newest City Councilor, I vow to continue listening to and advocating for residents as I raise your voices to the table where Newton’s decisions are made," he said in a statement. "Thank you again for your support - let’s continue to celebrate what makes Newton special, as we work together to make it an even better place to live and grow."

How many voted?

Ahead of Newton's Tuesday Special Election fewer than 2,000 people had taken advantage of early, in-person voting, according to the city clerk's office.

"It's the first local election in these conditions, so it's very unpredictable," said Acting City Clerk Christopher Sullivan.

The city of some 92,000 had nearly 63,000 registered voters in November. Of those, nearly 80 percent cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election.

But a local election, one that only has two races on it, is a different bird — even if both are hotly contested.

Local elections generally have a lower turnout than state elections, so coming off the heels of a presidential race, turnout may seem paltry, the clerk's office said.

The city mailed out 5,823 ballots ahead of this race, but whether voters will decide to return those, is anyone's guess.

According to the early tally, which may not take into account all mail-in ballots, around 14, 535 people cast votes, including early voting.

Ballots that arrived by mail today and those deposited in the ballot boxes at City Hall by 8:00 p.m. this evening are included in tonight’s unofficial total.

• Special Election 2021

Results

See how the city voted here as of 9:08 p.m.:

Voting Day
Tuesday afternoon candidates stood on street corners across from City Hall with signs and cold hands, hoping for the best.

"We are confident and happy with the race we ran," said 20-year-old candidate Madeline Renalli, a college student at Harvard who was running against John Oliver to replace the late Jay Ciccone.

Across the library parking lot entrance from her, David Micley stood holding a homemade sign, daughter in a stroller with him.

"I feel good," he said.

Over at the Zervas School, candidate Bryan Barash stood next to a dancing dinosaur.

"I'm feeling optimistic," said the father-to-be.

The polls saw a steady, if trickling, stream of voters as people cast ballots to fill two vacant seats on the Newton City Council.