LYNN — It was a nailbiter for Ward 6 Councilor Fred Hogan, but he came out on top Tuesday in the city’s most anticipated race this election season.
Overall, there was no change following a city election that featured a paltry 19.99 percent voter turnout. All 17 incumbents for the City Council and School Committee were re-elected, with Councilor-at-Large Buzzy Barton topping the city ticket with 5,426 votes.
Hogan, 49, who was selected by the City Council in January to serve out the remainder of state Rep. Peter Capano’s (D-Lynn) term, defeated challenger Cinda Danh 718 to 648 votes. The two moved on to the final election following a September primary where they were separated by just 10 votes.
“When the results came in, I was so excited,” Hogan said. “I’m excited for the people of Ward 6 because they just put their trust in me. Everyone was calling me the appointed councilor. I didn’t like that, so I wanted to be elected by the people and that happened, and it’s because I didn’t have enough time to show the work I could do in the ward. Now that I’ve got two years, I’m going to show people how hard I work.”
Hogan, who is a Grade 2 wastewater operator and site safety coordinator for the Lynn Wastewater Treatment Plant, wasn’t at the Lynn Tech fieldhouse when polls closed and results came in at 8 p.m. He said he left around 7:15 p.m. because he had been advised to go home and relax a little bit.
His friend, Capano, was outside the polling location, and said he was more nervous about the results than when he was running for the seat.
Danh, a 28-year-old government relations specialist at PretiStrategies of Boston, said she was proud of the residents of Ward 6 who came out to vote during poor, rainy weather.
“I’m so incredibly proud of the movement that we’ve started and the campaign that we ran,” Danh said.
City Councilor Dianna Chakoutis squeaked by in Ward 5, retaining her seat after defeating Marven Hyppolite by 573 to 519 votes.
“I was excited,” Chakoutis said. “I was happy. I’m looking forward to continuing what I’ve been doing for the city of Lynn, for my constituents.”
She listed the seniors as her main priority going forward.
Hyppolite, who was running for the Ward 5 seat for a third time, said he wasn’t expecting to win, but was encouraged by the close results and hopes the incumbents are scared.
“It is what it is,” Hyppolite said. “I’m not going away and I feel good about this. It just motivated me to keep pushing. The city is hungry for change. It’s changing slowly, but surely. We’re starting a movement.”
Barton led the councilor-at-large ticket with 5,426 votes, followed by incumbents Hong Net, Brian LaPierre and Brian Field who were also re-elected with 5,043; 4,974; and 4,761 votes respectively. Challengers Jose Encarnacion, Lennin Ernesto Pena and Joel Hyppolite fell short with 2,409; 1,966; and 1,407 votes respectively.
“I’m very excited,” said Barton. “It’s always nice to do well. I liked what I saw from all the candidates. Everybody worked hard and you get what you put into it.”
Of all the incumbents being reelected, Barton said he thinks it shows the city is moving in the right direction.
In what some expected to be a tight race in Ward 3, City Council President Darren Cyr won by a landslide over George Meimeteas, defeating him by a 977 to 559 vote margin. The results were vastly different from September’s primary, where Cyr won by just 22 votes.
Cyr said he was “ecstatic and happy” by the results.
Incumbents won handily in all other races.
Ward 1 Councilor Wayne Lozzi defeated William O’Shea, 1,579 to 1,283 votes.
Ward 2 Councilor Rick Starbard, the only incumbent running unopposed, received 1,035 votes.
Ward 4 Councilor Richard Colucci defeated Natasha Megie-Maddrey by a 471 to 301 vote margin.
Ward 7 Councilor John “Jay” Walsh crushed Alexis Reynoso with 1,059 votes to Reynoso’s 315.
The six School Committee members all won easily. Committee vice-chair Donna Coppola topped the ticket with 5,377 votes, followed by Lorraine Gately with 4,835 votes; John Ford with 4.779 votes; Jared Nicholson with 4,428 votes; Michael Satterwhite with 4,077 and Brian Castellanos with 4,056 votes.
Challenges Sandra Lopez and Tiffany Magnolia fell short with 2,937 and 2,835 votes respectively.