Newton City Council Candidate Wright Unseats Incumbent

NEWTON, MA — In two races for city council Tuesday, newcomers defeated incumbents. Pam Wright pushed out At-Large Councilor James Cote by 661 votes. Alicia Bowman edged out incumbent Greg Schwartz by 30 votes in Ward 6. But in that race there were 150 write-ins, and Schwartz has not yet conceded, making the race's outcome a bit unclear. Another notable race, although she had no challengers, Holly Ryan-Caffray was elected as the first transgender woman to the council.

It's not clear yet, if any of the candidates will ask for a recount. Patch has reached out to Schwartz. State law allows candidates to petition for a recount no matter the margin of the initial count in municipal elections.

"I'm excited but it hasn't quite really set in yet," Wright of Ward 3 told Patch. Wright watched the returns come in Tuesday night with several other new candidates at her home.

It was an otherwise ordinary night for her and some other newbies. She was serving guests cheese when the results when it became clear she was the winner.

Wright said Julie Malakie, another newly elected councilor, was covering elections for the Lowell Sun, when news of her victory came out. She had to wait until work was over to help celebrate later.

"I'm new to politics, I've never done any of this before," said Wright. She called Cote this morning and left messages with him, thanking him for running a clean campaign after more experienced Newton politicos explained that's what newly elected officials do.

"I wanted to thank him for running a very cordial campaign along with Andrea Kelly," she said. "Some of the other races got a little nasty, and - especially as a newcomer - I was appreciative it didn't go there. I thanked him for all of his years of service on the council."

Now Wright turns to the personal items on her to-do list she's ignored for the past few months as she's campaigned. Wednesday she was headed to deal with a problem for a light at one of her rental properties and then turn to the matter of running the East Massachusetts State championship for robotics competitions.

"Then as a city councilor, I'm really looking forward to the citywide zoning that's proposed for next year," she said. It was a main reason she felt impelled to run. As an engineer, and a visual person, she said it's easy for her to read building code and can see it for what it is, quickly. So now she's looking forward to being at the table when the citywide zoning comes up, and share her asset.

She's also aware that most people she met on the campaign trail were concerned about development, traffic and also the schools and the lack of contracts for many city employees...

"I'm very appreciative for everyone who has supported me. I hope I can live up to what they want in me. I'm a hard worker and I can't wait to get going," she said.

This election, on the anniversary of women's right to vote leaves the 24 member council for the first time mostly in the hands of women. Out of 24 members, 14 are women, up from 12 last term. The top two vote-getters Tuesday night were both women.

Related:

Newton Election Results 2019

Election Day In Newton: 25 Percent Turnout

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).