Marc Laredo smiled at a clapping crowd at District 118 restaurant on Needham Street Tuesday night, with something to celebrate. The Newton City Council president had become Newton’s mayor-elect, having secured 77 percent of the vote over three-time candidate Al Cecchinelli.
But in the seven other contested municipal elections for school committee and city council, Laredo also had reason for celebration. All but one of the eight candidates he had backed in those competitive elections had won.
Speaking to his supporters, Laredo expressed an eagerness to get to work with the new administration.
“We have newly elected colleagues in the city council, we have newly elected colleagues in the school committee,” Laredo said. “For all of them, I’m really grateful and looking forward to serving with each and every one of them.”
Here’s how the ballot broke down in Newton this election.
School Committee
With only two out of eight incumbents running for reelection—one of those incumbents having only served since April—Tuesday’s election formed an almost completely new school committee. This marks a stark contrast to the last municipal election, which saw no competitive elections for the body.
The Newton Teachers Association (NTA), the public school teachers union, endorsed three candidates: Jenna Miara for Ward 5, Mali Brodt for Ward 6, and Jim Murphy for Ward 8. In each of those races, Laredo’s picks—also backed by anti-union citizen group “Kids First Newton”—soundly defeated the union’s endorsees.
Laredo-endorsed Linda Swain also won over Christine Fisher in Ward 2, though the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) did not endorse Fisher.
These results followed an 11-day teachers’ strike in 2024 that drew lawsuits from Newton parents. More recently, the NTA’s president was quoted as saying that “students should not come first” in a speech to the union, which renewed outcry.
City Council
The only Laredo-backed city council candidate to lose his election was John Chaimanis, one of three candidates for the two at-large seats in Ward 4. Chaimanis was subject to negative attention during the campaign for past Facebook comments in which he expressed discomfort at letting trans girls into locker rooms that correspond with their gender identities.
“How is a parent with daughters supposed to get comfortable with the changing room situation where boys will now be allowed?” The Newton Beacon reported him commenting in 2024.
Newcomer Cyrus Dahmubed and incumbent Josh Krintzman edged out Chaimanis, taking the two Ward 4 at-large seats.
Ballot Question
By a margin of just 71 votes, Newtonians rejected a ballot question that would have repealed the city’s overnight parking ban. The ban, which has prohibited on-street parking from December through March for 90 years, has been the subject of repeated controversy. The city council voted down a petition to repeal it in 2023.
Turnout
Of the city’s 60,321 registered voters, 22,687, or 37.6 percent, voted Tuesday night, marking the highest turnout in six years.
According to Newton resident and poll worker Jon Goldberg, that turnout may be driven by concern for democracy on the national scale.
“I think what’s really driving turnout is just that people are appreciating how precious democracy is,” Goldberg said. “And you know, even though this isn’t like a big, sexy election, still, it is democracy.”
Geo Elasmar contributed to reporting.