Melrose School Committee Race A Blowout As 3 Women Roll

MELROSE, MA — Political newcomer Dorie Withey will join incumbents Jen McAndrew and Jen Razi-Thomas on School Committee after the trio came out of the only contested race in Tuesday's city election.

John Connelly, also fresh into the world of politics, was the odd man out. Voters broke for the other three candidates by roughly a 2-to-1 margin. McAndrew, Withey and Razi-Thomas finished 1-2-3 in the race.

"Thank you to the voters of Melrose," McAndrew, who chairs the School Committee, said after receiving the most votes in the race. "It's a privilege to serve on the School Committee. I look forward to continuing our work--together, as a community--on behalf of all students."

With School Committee member John Obremski moving to City Council, five out of the six School Committee seats not held by the mayor will be occupied by women.

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Low turnout was expected for an election that did not feature any other contested races, but unofficial results showed at least 3,344 ballots cast — a more than 15 percent turnout.

Robb Stewart, Mark Garipay, Shawn MacMaster, Jen Grigoraitis, Chris Cinella, Jack Eccles, Maya Jamaleddine and Leila Migliorelli were re-elected to City Council.

Manjula Karamcheti will take over for John Tramontozzi in Ward 1, John Obremski will succeed Jeff McNaught in Ward 2 and Ryan Williams will take the Ward 7 torch from Cory Thomas.

Williams lost to Thomas by four votes in 2019.

The fresh faces will on balance tilt the Council in more a progressive direction — and also leaves it with far less experience.

While McNaught and Thomas are leaving after just one term, Tramontozzi was by far the longest-serving active member, having put in 16 years. Shawn MacMaster, who took over for Gail Infurna when she became mayor in 2018, will become the Council's senior member. The rest of his colleagues will either have been elected this year or in 2019.

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi and Instagram at Melrose Happening. Subscribe to Melrose Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook.