HOLYOKE — Incumbents carried the day in contested races for Holyoke’s City Council, with all five at-large city councilors winning re-election together with a former city councilor. In Wards 3 and 5 incumbents also prevailed, with only Ward 4 electing a new councilor to the 13-member council.
There were six at-large City Council seats up for grabs. Peter Tallman was the top vote-getter with 4,067, followed by Joseph McGiverin with 3,993, Michael Sullivan with 3,677, James Leahy with 3,582 and Rebecca Lisi with 3,568. Howard Greaney, who served on the City Council from 2013 to 2017, placed sixth with 3,084 votes.
“I’m pleased with the results, and I’m glad to be back on the council to serve for two years,” Tallman said after the vote tallies were read by City Clerk Brenna Murphy McGee at City Hall.
In Ward 3, eight-year incumbent David Bartley defeated longtime School Committee member Dennis Birks with 860 votes to 537. Bartley told a crowd gathered at a victory party at Pic’s Pub & Pizzeria on Hampden Street that he was “humbled and gratified.”
Ward 4 elected Libby Hernandez by a total of 444 to 193 over Michael Thomas Siciliano. Hernandez will replace Jossie Valentin, who decided not to run for re-election as she leads Elizabeth Warren’s campaign in the state.
“It feels really good to win and to know that the community believed in me and trusted me to be the voice that represents them,” Hernandez said, adding that this is the second time she has run after a loss in 2011. “It feels great to try again and be successful. It feels fantastic, amazing.”
In Ward 5, incumbent Linda Vacon defeated challenger Jens Michaelsen by a large margin of 1,159 to 411.
“I’m humbled by the support of the voters,” Vacon said. “I’ve always trusted in the voters.”
Turnout for the election was 29 percent, with 7,727 of the city’s 26,469 voters casting ballots.
In the city’s wards, incumbents ran unopposed: Gladys Lebron-Martinez in Ward 1, Terence Murphy in Ward 2, Juan Anderson-Burgos in Ward 6 and Todd McGee in Ward 7.
In a city where 51 percent of the population identifies as Hispanic or Latino, none of the three candidates from those communities were elected to at-large seats. Holyoke has only ever elected one Latino resident to an at-large City Council seat. Hispanic residents of Ward 1 sued the city in 1992 over its at-large system, arguing it denied them political representation. The plaintiffs ultimately lost their case on appeal.
Israel Rivera, a program manager at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who grew up in the Flats neighborhood, ran on a platform of engaging Holyoke residents who typically don’t get involved in city politics. Rivera finished seventh with 2,797 votes — 287 votes shy of Howard Greaney, who won the sixth and last spot on the Council. Greaney previously served on the City Council from 2013 until 2017, when he placed seventh. That year was the first election after 2015, when voters reduced the number of at-large City Council seats from eight to six.
Rivera said he feels the way the at-large system is set up contributed to his loss.
“It’s more a systemic flaw in the system,” he said, noting that he plans to run again for an at-large seat in two years.
Finishing out the at-large field were Jordan Lemieux with 2,287 votes, Nelson Lopez with 2,028 votes, Wilmer Puello-Mota with 1,399 votes and Deborah Aloisi with 1,431 votes. Michelle Trousil, who earlier announced on social media that she was withdrawing from the race, received 837 votes.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.