2015 Lynn Municipal Election Season Starting

This fall Lynn voters will have the opportunity to cast their vote for local city government. Races this year include Councilor At-Large, School Committee and all 7 ward races; there is no mayoral race this year. While political hopefuls have until June 26th to take out nomination papers, a number of Lynners have already announced their intention to appear on the ballot this year.

As of April 29th, eight people have pulled papers for the Councilor At-Large race. Voters will have the opportunity to elect four of these candidates. Incumbents Dan Cahill, Buzzy Barton and Hong Net have all pulled papers. Additionally, current School Committee member Rick Starbard has joined the At-Large race. The other potential candidates are Jose Alvarez, Edwin Soto, Brian LaPierre, and Posan Ung. Ward 7 Councilor Rick Ford initially announced his intention to run for an At-Large seat and pulled nomination papers but ultimately decided to sit this election out.

[ETA 5/15]: The Daily Item reported on May 15th that former City Council President Tim Phelan has also pulled papers to run for Councilor At-Large. He vacated his council position in 2013 after an unsuccessful campaign for mayor. 

In the School Committee race, eight Lynn residents have pulled nomination papers for the six committee seats. In addition to incumbent Rick Starbard, current SC member Charlie Gallo also announced that he was not running for re-election. Patricia Capano, Donna Coppola, Maria Carrasco and John Ford, on the other hand, are seeking another term this year. Newcomers in this race are Jared Nicholson, Natasha Megie-Maddrey, and Michael Ouk as well as 2013 SC candidate Lorraine Gately.

[ETA 5/16]: A ninth potential School Committee candidate pulled nomination papers on May 12th. Former SC candidate Dolores DiFillipo pulled papers this past week in order to enter the race. DiFillipo previously ran for School Committee in 2009 and 2011.

Potential  candidates in the Ward races thus far are as follows:

Ward One

• Wayne Lozzi (Incumbent)

Ward Two

• William Trahant (Incumbent)

Ward 3

• Darren Cyr (Incumbent)
• Calvin Anderson

Ward 4

• Richard Colucci (Incumbent)
• Rick Borten
• Ariana Murrell-Rosario

Ward 5

• Diana Chakoutis (Incumbent)
• Marven-Rhode Hyppolite

Ward 6

• Peter Capano (Incumbent)

Ward 7

• John Jay Walsh
• Brian Field

Candidates have until Monday, June 29th at 4pm to file their nomination papers. The preliminary election this year will be held on Tuesday, September 1st with the final election to be held on Tuesday, November 3rd.