Jenny Pacillo defeats Peterson to take District 1 City Council seat in Worcester

WORCESTER - Jennifer “Jenny” Pacillo will succeed Sean M. Rose as the District 1 city councilor, after easily topping David Peterson in the race for the open seat.

Pacillo captured 61% of the vote in defeating Peterson, 3,808-2428.

Rose, a three-term councilor, decided against seeking reelection, assuring a new face on the council.

Shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday, a smiling Pacillo strolled into Trackside Tavern at 541 West Boylston St. As she entered the neighborhood bar, her supporters and friends cheered her on with cries of "city councilor." Early results from a majority of the wards and precincts indicated that she had a commanding lead over Peterson.

The editor of Pulse Magazine and CM Pride, Pacillo was noticeably overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and discussed how surprised that she won the election by such an overwhelming margin. Away from the celebration, Pacillo went outside to call her uncle and tell him that his niece is now a city councilor.

“I feel so happy and grateful,” Pacillo said. “I just want to thank everyone who’s helped, sent me good vibes. All the people on the doors, they were wonderful. I’m so excited to get to work.”

As for what made a difference in her campaign, Pacillo, 41, who is a mother of three young children, said she did her homework and necessary legwork to get better versed with the issues and get her message out there.

“I literally knocked doors every single day,” she said. “I would knock doors and study policy and different city programs. I worked really hard and I had great support.”

District 1 generally includes the following neighborhoods: Salisbury Street, Westwood Hills, Assumption University, Hancock Hill, Grove Street, Holden Street, Indian Hill, Indian Lake, Greendale, the Summit, Quinsigamond Community College, Upper Burncoat, Clark Street, Lincoln Village, Great Brook Valley, Curtis Apartments, Montvale and Massachusetts Avenue Local Historic Districts, Hammond Heights, Bancroft Tower, Winter Heights and Richmond/Flagg.

While she quietly celebrated with some rambunctious supporters, friends and family members, Pacillo said she's already eager to start in her new elected position and ready to push several big issues for the betterment of her constituents to the forefront.

“I’m really excited about the Greendale Revitalization Project,” Pacillo said, as she rattled off some of the important issues at hand. “I’m looking forward to pushing for a new Burncoat High, just making government more accessible to everyone.”

Peterson, 43, is the Worcester Bravehearts general manager, took his inaugural stab at municipal government and subsequent loss in stride.

"I learned a lot from this whole process," Peterson said. "I think it made me a better person."

Peterson couldn't say enough about his supporters.

"My supporters were incredible. We did 79 standouts. We stood out every single morning since Sept. 6 with a core group of people and they donated their time and their efforts to prompt me to people that they were friendly with. My supporters were wonderful."

As for the prospect for running again, Peterson said it's too early to say.

"If I were to run again, I need to have a much more developed campaign, a much more organized committee. I need to offload some of the project that I did myself on other people," Peterson said.

As for Pacillo, Peterson said they both have mutual respect for each other.

"Jenny's talented and she has a good group of people around her. From the beginning, she and I have had a very cordial relationship," Peterson said. "Jenny is going to do fine. She's a great person for the community."

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Jenny Pacillo defeats Peterson to take Worcester D1 City Council seat