Road to November: Worcester political experts view races for City Council, schools

WORCESTER — As city voters returned to the polls for Tuesday's preliminary election, four city political watchers weighed in on whether 2023 is the year there will be more interest in local elections and the big issues on voters' minds.

Former Mayor Joseph O'Brien, who serves as political and legislative director for the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, said this year is interesting because it is the first under the new School Committee election map, where the majority of School Committee candidates are running for specific district seats — District A through F — rather than all at-large.

O'Brien said it is the first time in his memory where interest in district races for City Council has been as "vigorous." All the City Council district seats are contested this year, with Districts 1, 2, 4 and 5 having preliminary elections.

Districts 1 and 4 are also wide open after incumbents Sean Rose and Sarai Rivera announced they were not seeking reelection.

"I do think there's been a good, strong response from candidates, which is exciting," O'Brien said.

Live coverage Preliminary election day in Worcester

40 names in the running

In total 40 candidates made it on the ballot this year, with 27 running for City Council and 13 running for School Committee.

However, O'Brien said he believed the Sept. 5 election date may depress turnout for the preliminary, coming the day after a three-day weekend.

In November, when the general election will be held after the field narrows in several races, O'Brien said there will be more excitement in both City Council and School Committee races. He predicts turnout will be higher than in previous years.

The former mayor said this election also has the potential for one of the most potentially competitive mayoral races in recent years.

Three candidates have already announced challenges to Mayor Joseph M. Petty: Councilor-at-Large Khrystian King, Guillermo Creamer Jr. and William Coleman. O'Brien is personally supporting his friend Petty in extending his historic tenure as mayor.

More: Tuesday is preliminary election day in Worcester. What you need to know

School Committee race

The at-large School Committee race could also drive interest with three current members, Tracy O'Connell Novick, Laura Clancey and Susan Coghlin Mailman, and former Worcester Public Schools Superintendent Maureen Binienda running for two seats, O'Brien said.

"There's going to be a lot more excitement when we get to the general election," O'Brien said.

The Districts 1, 2 and 5 races could also be ones to watch going to November, O'Brien said.

Affordable housing and homeownership are issues on the public's mind, O'Brien said.

While he said preliminary election turnout will not be a full indicator of candidate strength in November, O'Brien said he believes the preliminary results can be an early indicator of potential strength for incumbents and challengers in district races.

More: Worcester preliminary: Get to know the candidates

More from Mariano

On the other hand, former Mayor Raymond V. Mariano, who writes a Sunday column for the Telegram & Gazette, said he has not yet seen many candidates or challengers lead with concrete and specific campaign pledges to excite voters and set clear contrasts.

He said Worcester will continue to see low turnouts unless candidates change their tactics, adding that candidates from his time in office would often set the agenda for the city and begin their campaigns much earlier.

Several incumbents are running more on their general character and their availability to the public than on explicit policies to address issues like housing, Mariano said. The candidates also give "chocolate and vanilla" answers to questions about what they support as elected officials, Mariano said.

"Everybody is in favor of providing affordable housing, everybody is in favor of transparency, everyone is in favor of supporting the public schools," Mariano said. "But there is nothing that sets people apart."

Mariano pointed to the mayor's race as the tone-setter for the rest of the races.

"You go to a boxing match, two people are in the ring and all they do is dance and throw punches in the air, never at each other," Mariano said, "You only get so excited, you're never going to want to go back to that fight."

The School Committee race is "almost nonexistent" for most voters, Mariano said.

"I think overall you'd classify it as lackluster, but there are spots where there's pretty good interest," Mariano said.

While he said district council races generally did not draw large numbers of voters, some may have higher turnout than others.

Keep an eye on District 5

District 5, where incumbent Etel Haxhiaj faced challenges from Jose Rivera and Edson Montero, could see more turnout, Mariano said, because Rivera has challenged Haxhiaj on certain issues and provoked a response.

Haxhiaj and Rivera ultimately advanced to November.

Districts 1 and 4 are also drawing interest as wide-open races.

Jenny Pacillo and David Peterson advanced in District 1 while Luis Ojeda and Katia Norford advanced in District 4.

In District 2, incumbent Candy Mero-Carlson and Robert Bilotta advanced.

While a candidate forum for District 4 had good turnout, Mariano said, the candidates were very friendly with each other and their differences were less distinct.

Two Worcester progressives said they are seeing interest in the general race.

Jordan Berg-Powers, a consultant and former executive director of Mass Alliance, said he is unsure if there will be good turnout for the preliminary, but he thinks there will be a higher turnout in November. Housing is the big issue on people's minds, he added.

"The biggest issues I see are housing, housing, and housing. People just are trying to figure out how does this city continue to be the place that it currently is. People are getting stretched and pushed out," Berg-Powers said.

When he talks to neighbors, Berg-Powers said, matters on their mind include complaints about absentee landlords and rising rents.

Berg-Powers said it is a "chicken-or-the-egg situation" of whether the larger field of candidates has driven more interest in ongoing city issues or if more candidates decided to run based on a growing desire to address issues that residents may feel are going unaddressed.

A different story in November?

Preliminary elections are usually not good determinations of November turnout because not everyone votes and wider candidate fields may not drive as much interest as a sharper two-person race.

According to the unofficial results, 8,703 ballots were cast in the preliminary, around 9% of the 96,407 registered voters who were eligible to vote in the preliminary.

Berg-Powers said he is looking to see if anything about the demographics of people who use methods like mail-in or early voting could be gleamed from the preliminary.

Marianna Islam, an organizer with the Communities for Just Schools Fund who played a key role on Councilor-at-Large Thu Nguyen's 2021 campaign, said the pool of candidates is more diverse on lines such as race, gender and sexual orientation, allowing candidates to bring in their lived experiences.

At the forefront of this year's election will be housing, racial equity and the impact of the city's economic development, Islam said. She believes it has not benefited many corners of the city.

There are candidates running with a more progressive perspective who are promising to address these issues, Islam said.

"Just having one or two people who hold progressive values is not enough," Islam said. "There actually needs to be more."

Islam said she believes residents need to be be aware of local matters like proposed regulations of clinics that advise patients against abortions, understanding the school district's sexual education curriculum, and anti-queer attacks used on LGBTQ candidates such as Nguyen.

Islam said she was the voter number 238 in her District 1 precinct, which was not an indicator of strong preliminary turnout. However, she is hopeful the candidate field will turn out voters who usually stay home in the general.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester political experts weigh on on City Council, school races