Council at-large winners were Petty, King, Toomey, Rosen, Mitra and Bergman; district seats went to Economou, Bilotta, Fresolo, Ojeda and Rivera; and school committee seats to Binienda, Mailman, McCullough, Alvarez, Biancheria, Guardiola Jr., Roy and Johnson.
WORCESTER—Mayor Joseph M. Petty secured an eighth term Tuesday night, extending his run as Worcester’s longest-serving mayor with a decisive win over challengers Khrystian King and Owura-Kwaku Sarkodieh.
Petty, who focused his campaign on housing, stability and collaboration across city departments, captured 54.68% of the vote to King’s 33.67%.
Voter turnout landed at 22.43%, with 26,126 ballots cast out of 116,455 registered voters. While Worcester continues to hover near the long-standing 20% mark that has dogged its municipal elections for decades, this year’s participation was a slight improvement over the last cycle, which drew just above 19%.
“Thank you, Worcester, from the bottom of my heart, for entrusting me to serve another term as your mayor,” Petty wrote on social media after results rolled in. “This campaign was about leadership, results, and service to our city. Let’s get to work and make two more years of meaningful progress — together.”
The at-large city council race brought a mix of familiar faces and shakeups. Gary Rosen, who last served on the council years ago, makes a return, while Donna Colorio was the only incumbent knocked out of the race. The six winners—in order—are Petty, King, Kate Toomey, Rosen, Satya Mitra and Morris Bergman.
In District 5, Jose Rivera, a well-known local boxer making his second run against Etel Haxhiaj, delivered one of the night’s biggest surprises, unseating the incumbent after a heated and often combative campaign that played out both on the streets and online. Rivera claimed just over 52% of the vote to Haxhiaj’s 42.48%.
District 2 also saw a change, with Robert Bilotta defeating longtime councilor Candy Mero-Carlson.
On the school side, Maureen Binienda once again topped the at-large vote — just as she did in her first run after leaving her superintendent post—followed closely by incumbent Sue Mailman to retain their two seats against challenger Adwoa A. Sakyi-Lamptey.
“Thank you to everyone who supported Maureen’s campaign!” it reads on Binienda’s Facebook campaign page. “Our voices have been heard, and Maureen’s 49 years as an educator and personal integrity have earned her well-deserved recognition.”
Below are the unofficial results from the Worcester Election Commission. The top six finishers in the at-large race win council seats, and the mayor is chosen from among those six based on the highest mayoral vote count.
(*Incumbent)
Mayor
Joseph M. Petty* — 13,747 (54.68%)
Khrystian E. King — 8,465 (33.67%)
Owura-Kwaku Sarkodieh — 1,743 (6.93%)
Edson Montero — 1,188 (4.72%)
City councilor-at-large
Joseph M. Petty* — 12,420 (11.65%)
Khrystian E. King* — 11,808 (11.08%)
Kate Toomey* — 10,353 (9.71%)
Gary Rosen — 10,033 (9.41%)
Satya B. Mitra — 9,457 (8.87%)
Morris A. Bergman* — 9,353 (8.77%)
Jermoh Kamara — 9,309 [8.73%)
Donna M. Colorio* — 9,247 (8.67%)
Cayden Davis — 8,352 (7.83%)
Jessica R. Pepple — 6,378 (5.98%)
Owura-Kwaku Sarkodieh — 6,188 (5.80%)
Edson Montero — 3,707 (3.48%)
District councilors
District 1:
Tony J. Economou — 4,064 (56.93%)
Keith J. Linhares — 3,074 (43.07%)
District 2:
Robert A. Bilotta — 2,016 (55.31%)
Candy F. Mero-Carlson* — 1,629 (44.69%)
District 3:
John P. Fresolo — 2,200 (53.74%)
Robert F. Pezzella — 1,894 (44.69%)
District 4:
Luis A. Ojeda* — 1,566 (73.62%)
Ted Kostas — 561 (26.38%)
District 5:
Jose A. Rivera — 3,954 (52.52%)
Etel Haxhiaj* — 3,575 (47.48%)
At-large:
Maureen F. Binienda* — 13,663 (38.76%)
Susan M. Mailman* — 12,996 (36.87%)
Adwoa A. Sakyi-Lamptey — 8,588 (24.37%)
District A:
Molly O. McCullough* — 4,518 (100%)
District B:
Vanessa Z. Alvarez — 1,832 (100%)
District C:
Dianna Biancheria* — 2,753 (69.01%)
Feanna S. Jattan-Singh — 1,236 (30.99%)
District D:
Alejandro Guardiola, Jr.* — 1,193 (100%)
District E:
Kathleen L. Roy* — 1,921 (51.25%)
Nelly Medina — 1,827 (48.75%)
District F:
Jermaine L. Johnson* — 4,616 (100%)
Results are unofficial until certified by the Worcester Election Commission.
