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Kirk Wins 64% of the Primary Vote
By admin | October 4, 2009
(reproduced from the Cape Ann Beacon)
Fri Oct 02, 2009, 12:15 PM EDT
Incumbent Mayor Carolyn Kirk topped the ballot by a large margin in Gloucester’s mayoral preliminary election Tuesday, with challenger Sharon George coming in second. Dan Ruberti came in third and was eliminated.
Kirk received 1,558 votes; George got 576, and Ruberti got 242.
Kirk and George were at City Hall to hear the results and congratulated each other when the results were posted.
“It gives me some good momentum going into the election for November,” said Kirk. “I think the vote was a real validation citywide and support for my performance and the administration.”
When asked how she felt about the numbers, George said “I’m feeling good about them. I think that all the people who voted for Ruberti aren’t Kirk supporters. If you add those votes, then I didn’t do so bad.”
Both candidates did best in the wards where they live.
George’s largest turnout was in Ward 5, the area including West Gloucester and Magnolia, where 171 people voted for her.
Ward 1, encompassing East Gloucester, gave the largest support to Kirk with 463 votes compared to George, who received 111.
Turnout was low for the preliminary election, with around 2,400 voters heading to the polls, just over 10 percent of the city’s registered voters.
“We had to work hard to remind people to get out to vote,” said Kirk on Tuesday night of the low turnout. “Some people said this wasn’t a meaningful election.”
There was some criticism leading up to the preliminary election of Ruberti, whose presence on the ballot cost the city $15,000 but whose chances of receiving the votes required to move on to Nov. 3 were seen as extremely low.
Ruberti has run for mayor nearly every election cycle since 1975. He has never won.
“It’s unfortunate that the city’s going to have to pay for this,” said Peggy Perrin, 65, after she voted on Tuesday. “But it’s the democratic process and it has to be this way.”
Many voters cited education, taxes, and water security as the most important issues on their minds when voting in the preliminary election.
“Education wise there doesn’t seem to have been a lot that’s happened,” said Joanne Moore, 41, who sends her 6-year-old son to private school. “Right now, the system is unbalanced.”
William Haberland, chief of staff to state Sen. Robert O’Leary, said that water issues, fishing, and tax issues influenced his vote on Tuesday. “I’m concerned about where the city is headed,” said Haberland. “And if it’s in the right direction.”
Some voters expressed their dissatisfaction with the field of candidates. “One I don’t know anything about, the other I don’t like, and the other runs all the time,” said one woman, a certified public accountant who did not want to be named.
At least one voter was happy with his choice, however. Councilor John “Gus” Foote cast his ballot at Our Lady of Good Voyage Youth Center in Ward 2 on Tuesday evening and said Kirk has got both guts and integrity.
“In all my 34 years here, I think she’s one of the best,” said Foote.
Voting for the mayoral election will take place on Nov. 3. As to her campaign plans for the next month, Kirk said “I’m going to be the same person that I’ve always been as mayor. I’m just going to be straight-talking and head out to the neighborhoods.”
George, an at-large city councilor, said that during the upcoming month, “I’m going to increase my visibility and I think I’ll do very well in the debates. I hope people decide to come to them, it will be a good learning experience.”
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