Holyoke City Council races come into focus after preliminary election
HOLYOKE — Voters face choices in the Nov. 2 City Council races, with a mix of new and familiar names vying for the seven ward and six at-large seats. In all, 23 candidates submitted nomination papers.
While a healthy slate of incumbents are seeking reelection, councilors at large Rebecca Lisi and Michael J. Sullivan instead ran for mayor. Sullivan finished first in Tuesday’s preliminary election, meaning he and second-place finisher Joshua A. Garcia will progress to the November election. Lisi came in third and was eliminated along with four other candidates.
Room 1 at City Hall is currently occupied by acting Mayor and Ward 2 Councilor Terence Murphy. He previously announced he would not run for either position, leaving Will Puello the lone candidate in Ward 2.
Ward 1 Councilor Gladys Lebron-Martinez, a fixture in Holyoke’s political scene, will not seek reelection. Jenny Rivera and Victor M. Machado are campaigning for the Ward 1 spot.
Ward 3 Councilor David Bartley faces a rematch with Anne N. Thalheimer, who challenged Bartley in a three-way race two years ago along with then-School Committee member Dennis Birks. Bartley had said after his last victory that he would not run again.
Ward 4 became open after current seat holder Libby Hernandez nixed plans for two more years. As a result, the ward must choose between newcomer Kocayne S. Givner and Michael Thomas Siciliano, a former mayoral candidate.
Guy O’Donnell seeks to unseat incumbent Linda Vacon in Ward 5, and Preston Macy hopes to do the same against Ward 6 Councilor Juan Anderson-Burgos.
Ward 7 Councilor and City Council President Todd McGee is unopposed.
At-large incumbents are Peter Tallman, James M. Leahy, Joseph McGiverin and Howard “Howie” Greaney. A marquee name among the challengers is Kevin A. Jourdain, who served on the council from 1994-2018, with three terms as president. The other challengers are Israel Rivera, Tessa Murphy-Romboletti, Jose Luis Maldonado, Mark D. Chatel, Jennifer M. Keitt and Paola Ferrario.
City Clerk Brenna Murphy McGee and acting City Treasurer Katherine Jackowski are unopposed. Jackowski previously served as Tax Collector until former Treasurer Sandra Smith resigned in February.
Preliminary results updated
The city clerk’s office reported that 18.99%, or 5,161 of Holyoke’s 27,183 registered voters, cast ballots in the mayoral preliminary. Revised vote totals were released Wednesday afternoon, reflecting minor changes from the numbers reported Tuesday night.
Sullivan came in first with 1,434 votes, followed by Garcia with 1,128 votes. The runners-up were Lisi (1,018), Devin M. Sheehan (832), William J. “Billy” Glidden (524), Gloria A. Caballero Roca (117) and Christopher E. Kosinski (40). Diosdado Lopez-Martinez received 49 write-in votes, and there were 14 other write-ins.
Murphy McGee had predicted a 20% to 25% turnout for the preliminary. She is forecasting a 40% turnout for the Nov. 2 municipal election.
