ELECTION 2013: Warren Wins Big

North Andover voters headed to the polls Tuesday and elected Zora Warren to the School Committee.

Warren received 69 percent of the vote (1,166) to Mark Mezzina's 31 percent (526).

"It's just very exciting," Warren said after the results came in. "I've been very fortunate to have the support of my family, wonderful friends and neighbors, people throughout town. It feels wonderful to have gone through this process together with them. I'm really excited to work with the schools and represent North Andover."

Warren won by a wide margin in every precinct in town.

The local mother, educational consultant and former teacher ran on a platform of strengthening centralized curriculum, citing her years of experience in education analysis and evaluation.

"What I really hope in the next couple years is that we continue to work on communication between the schools, the School Committee, the teachers, the parents, the community, so we can work together on common goals and provide the best schools that we can for our students," Warren said.

Warren ran against the young and passionate Mezzina, 2012 campaign aide of Karin Rhoton during her run for state representative. Mezzina, 19, became a household name in town this year, emerging from the 2012 shadows with a stealth candidacy of his own, exhibiting grit and perserverence seldom seen in many people his age.

"I congratulate Zora on her victory," Mezzina said after the results came in. "I had hoped the results would be different but I'm still proud of the work I put in."

At just 19 years old with a campaign already under his belt, don't expect this to be the last we see of Mezzina, either as a candidate or at the very least a vocal participant in politics.

"I don't want to rule anything out, but I have no plans to run for office in the near future," Mezzina said. "However, I do plan on continuing to work hard over the next few years to try to bring more balance to our town government."

Other Races

The School Committee race was the race to watch, because it was the only contested race. Selectman Rosemary Smedile ran for reelection unopposed and garnered 96.9 percent of the vote, with 3.1 percent going to write-ins.

Mary Beth Soucy won a seat on the North Andover Housing Authority -- she ran unopposed as well -- with 98.9 percent of the vote. Write-ins captured 1.1 percent.

Turnout was about 8 percent, almost 1,500 voters.