McAndrew, Cinella Topped Ballot After Leading Through Lingering Pandemic

MELROSE, MA — Jen McAndrew and Chris Cinella received the most votes in the city after chairing the School Committee and steering the City Council, respectively, through a lingering pandemic, according to unofficial results from Tuesday's election.

McAndrew received 2,395 votes to pace all candidates, an impressive showing but representative of the low turnout compared to the last couple of years. School Committee member Margaret Driscoll led the 2019 election with 6,225 votes on a ballot that also had a mayoral race and six competitive City Council races.

Tuesday's unofficial total saw 3,344 ballots cast, while 2019 had 10,175. The 2020 election, which featured the presidential race, drew 18,336 voters. Even in 2017, McAndrew's city-leading vote total was 3,686.

Tuesday had only one contested race: Four candidates for three School Committee seats. Read more about the election here.

Political newcomer Dorie Withey finished second in the race with 2,317 votes, while incumbent Jen Razi-Thomas got 2,294 votes to get the third and final spot.

John Connelly finished fourth, getting 1,184 in his first time on the ballot.

Cinella, the City Council president during a year that was almost completely remote once again, led the at-large race with 2,350 votes. Jack Eccles had 2,278 votes, Maya Jamaleddine had 2,261 and Leila Migliorelli had 2,239.

You can see the full unofficial results below:

Manjula Karamcheti

1-1: 300
1-2: 197

Total:497

John Obremski
2-1: 223
2-2: 171

Total: 394

Robb Stewart
3-1: 173
3-2: 183

Total: 356

Mark Garipay
4-1: 186
4-2: 309

Total: 495

Shawn MacMaster
5-1 : 168
5-2: 151

Total: 319

Jen Grigoraitis
6-1: 159
6-2: 190

Total: 349

Ryan Williams
7-1: 127
7-2: 193

Total: 320

AT-LARGE

Chris Cinella

• 1-1: 252
• 1-2: 173
• 2-1: 220
• 2-2: 158
• 3-1: 156
• 3-2: 159
• 4-1: 148
• 4-2: 245
• 5-1: 138
• 5-2: 133
• 6-1: 131
• 6-2: 159
• 7-1: 113
• 7-2: 165
• Total: 2,350

Jack Eccles

• 1-1: 250
• 1-2: 172
• 2-1: 168
• 2-2: 151
• 3-1: 164
• 3-2: 163
• 4-1: 172
• 4-2: 221
• 5-1: 133
• 5-2: 129
• 6-1: 132
• 6-2: 153
• 7-1: 112
• 7-2: 157
• Total: 2,278

Maya Jamaleddine

• 1-1: 266
• 1-2: 179
• 2-1: 167
• 2-2: 143
• 3-1: 167
• 3-2: 167
• 4-1: 164
• 4-2: 209
• 5-1: 133
• 5-2: 125
• 6-1: 138
• 6-2: 144
• 7-1: 103
• 7-2: 156
• Total: 2,261

Leila Migliorelli

• 1-1: 246
• 1-2: 176
• 2-1: 173
• 2-2: 144
• 3-1: 172
• 3-2: 156
• 4-1: 158
• 4-2: 221
• 5-1: 125
• 5-2: 120
• 6-1: 137
• 6-2: 151
• 7-1: 112
• 7-2: 148
• Total: 2,239

SCHOOL COMMITTEE

Jen McAndrew

• 1-1: 283
• 1-2: 180
• 2-1: 175
• 2-2: 155
• 3-1: 183
• 3-2: 167
• 4-1: 169
• 4-2: 223
• 5-1: 128
• 5-2: 134
• 6-1: 148
• 6-2: 167
• 7-1: 112
• 7-2: 171
• Total: 2,395

Dorie Withey

• 1-1: 261
• 1-2: 179
• 2-1: 197
• 2-2: 122
• 3-1: 179
• 3-2: 149
• 4-1: 163
• 4-2: 224
• 5-1: 133
• 5-2: 117
• 6-1: 138
• 6-2: 158
• 7-1: 118
• 7-2: 179
• Total: 2,317

Jen Razi-Thomas

• 1-1: 262
• 1-2: 174
• 2-1: 167
• 2-2: 145
• 3-1: 177
• 3-2: 159
• 4-1: 156
• 4-2: 221
• 5-1: 123
• 5-2: 121
• 6-1: 145
• 6-2: 162
• 7-1: 116
• 7-2: 166
• Total: 2,294

John Connelly

• 1-1: 100
• 1-2: 75
• 2-1: 121
• 2-2: 91
• 3-1: 56
• 3-2: 81
• 4-1: 66
• 4-2: 158
• 5-1: 74
• 5-2: 71
• 6-1: 58
• 6-2: 102
• 7-1: 49
• 7-2: 82
• Total: 1,184

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.