According to the city unofficial results page, incumbent School Committee Member Kathy Shields, has defeated challenger Valerie Pontiff 7,629 to 5,034 votes.
Ward 7 School Committee — Kathy Shields
by V14 Election Central | Nov 2, 2021 | Newton | 3 comments
One of the things I find most interesting is the vote totals. If you look at the Mayor’s race it appears that about 20,000 votes were cast in total. Yet in this citywide race only 12,700 votes were cast. In the Levy/Fitzgibbons race 15,600 votes were cast.
Am I looking at this right, and how do you interpret this? Does it mean that over 7000 voters chose not to vote for either Shields or Pontiff? Shields still wins, but I think it shows incredible ambivalence where the number of non votes almost matches the winner’s vote total.
Michael,
While some voters may have been apathetic, others may have viewed the race as a foregone conclusion, which is borne out by the outcome. Also the Ward 6 race was contested much more vigorously. More folks may have known about it and felt comfortable voting.
I for one didn’t vote for either Shields or Pontiff. Hopefully better candidates will run next time.