Councilor-Elect Paz Among Youngest City Councilors In Waltham

WALTHAM, MA — Jonathan Paz was surrounded by friends and campaign volunteers at his campaign headquarters, also known as his house, Tuesday night as the results came in. They were nervous and a bit of a delay in seeing the results in one of the precincts had them on edge. But then it was there: Paz, 26, had ousted longtime incumbent Councilor Robert Logan, 62, to take the Ward 9 City Council seat.

The outcome represents a shift that municipal elections across the country are seeing, where younger people are increasingly challenging and winning seats from established incumbents.

Paz will be the youngest person on the city council in January, and although he's not the youngest ever to take a seat at the council, said City Clerk Robert Waddick "Jonathan is certainly among the younger members ever elected."

Some 894 people voted in Ward 9 this week. Of those, 496 voted for Paz and 377 for Logan, with 5 write-ins and 16 blanks. Paz won by 119 votes. Compared to 2017, voter turnout was up significantly from 662, when Logan beat out Consuelo Valdes by 114 votes. (In 2015, 659 people came out to vote from Ward 9).

"We were very happy to hear the news," Paz told Patch.

As soon as he heard, Paz took a moment to call his family and give them the good news.

"I think my dad was in disbelief, and my mom started tearing up," he said. Paz's family came from Bolivia to the U.S. when he was a child to provide a better life for their children, his website notes. In 2007, when Paz was about 14, his father was deported and his family separated. "It means a lot to my family. I'm really happy to make them proud."

"It's a little poetic," said Paz. "It means a lot to him to see that his son is trying to take on such a leadership role, and to see that we were successful as under dogs in the race."

Another call Paz made was to Logan. The conversation was pleasant and Logan wished him well, he said.

In addition to catching up on his rest after a non-stop campaign, Paz said he hopes to organize a community potluck in the next few months to show appreciation for those who helped out and to begin to make good on his promise to be a community engager.

"What I want to work on as soon as possible is trying to keep the community engaged through town halls," he said. "Sometime in the near future I want to make sure we have a lot more of the community engaged. To solve these city issues is a group effort."

At the top of his list include addressing economic issues, like underserved senior citizens. He said he wants to help modernize the city and make it more affordable.

"It's really important to prioritize how we grow, and much of that is about creating a master plan, but also a green master plan," he said. "Tackling issues like traffic and congestion require us to think about the short and the long run and look at the bigger picture."

As for his age? He brushes that aside.

"We had a historically high voter turnout and engagement and I think that's the product of grassroots engagement," said Paz. "I'm really excited to start addressing these issues together."

Other fun facts about this election:

In Ward 6 Sean Durkee upset Incumbent Sharline Nabulime by 59 votes. Some 538 voted for him, and 479 voted for Nabulime. Three people wrote in and 60 left the ballot blank. A total of 1,080 cast ballots there.

In Ward 2, Caren Dunn squeaked onto the council, 10 votes ahead of Bill Hanley. There were three write-in votes and 42 people left the ballot blank. 1,441 voted.

Mayor Jeannette McCarthy got 7,758 votes to Diane LeBlanc's 3,791 in the mayoral elections. (11,549 voted in total) In 2015, the last time McCarthy had a challenger, State Rep. Tom Stanley who is also a city councilor got 4,948 votes to the mayor's 6,074. (11,024 voted)

Read this, too:

Waltham 2019 Election Results: Paz Upsets 30-Year Incumbent Logan

Waltham's Biggest Issue, According To City Council Candidates

Waltham Mayoral Candidates McCarthy, LeBlanc Face Off In Debate

Turnout is Up in Waltham

Waltham Candidate Profile: Jonathan Paz

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).