Ragucci Takes Primary!!

Congratulations to Mayor David Ragucci for his Primary victory! Ragucci took the top spot in the Primary with 2895 votes over Hanlon's 2501. Alderman Mike Marchese limped into third place with a disappointing 736 votes.

Ragucci was able to achieve this victory in spite of a barrage of negativity coming from both the Hanlon (aided by sources closed to the Superintendent) and Marchese camps, and the Mayor's record of accomplishment and his focus on the positive seems to have paid off for now. Hanlon is now wounded, and it will be interesting to see whether those wounds sideline him, mellow his approach, or intensify the venom with which he seems to have chosen (or allowed) to run his campaign.

The big surprise of the night (even bigger, we think, than Marchese's embarrassingly poor showing) was Wayne Matewsky taking the top spot in the primary for Alderman at Large. A late comer into the race, Matewsky was able to pull out a primary victory with, according to the Everett Independent, 2031 votes to incumbent Alderman Carlo DeMaria's 1779 votes and Ward One Councilman Peter Napolitano's 1715.

These two races promise to provide lots of "excitment" for November. It will be interesting to see how much "negative" campaigning is used. The Mayor, no doubt, will continue to take the high road, focusing on the accomplishments of the administration. The Hanlon campaign, if it continues to be aided and abetted by certain sources known for going for the jugular, will provide more of the same negativity with very little substance focused on Hanlon's accomplishments or his plans for the future of the City. Matewsky will use his 25 years of public service as his platform, and DeMaria may very well fall into the trap of negativity that has crippled so many before him.
Fasten your seatbelts . . . it's gonna be a bumpy ride.