Write-in ballots from two precincts couldn't be counted because they were mistakenly locked away with other ballots.
Linda L. Vacon
Aaron M. Vega
HOLYOKE -- City Councilors
Vega was essentially unopposed. A two-term councilor at large, he defeated Michael F. Kane who had held the 5th Hampden District seat since 2001 and had quit in June for another job, though his name was still on the ballot.
Unofficial results showed Vega with 1,884 votes to 913 for Kane.
Vacon, the Ward 5 councilor, was the only write-in candidate who sought the Republican Party nomination. She got 169 write-in votes, 19 more than the 150 necessary to put her name on the ballot.
City clerk staff late Thursday were scrambling to figure out a problem with some of the write-in votes on which the chances of write-in candidate Jerome T. Hobert appeared to be hinging.
Poll workers put the write-in results for Ward 1B and Ward 7B into the locked ballot boxes with the regular votes. They should have put them in a separate bag for separate hand-counting. State law prohibits such ward ballot boxes from being unlocked for 30 days after an election, Assistant City Clerk Louise K. Bisson said.
Newcomer Hobert, seeking the nomination of the Green-Rainbow Party, had 132 write-in votes – 18 short of the 150 needed to get onto the Nov. 6 ballot, aside from possible Hobert write-ins from Wards 1B and 7B, she said.
Bisson said she would contact the secretary of state’s office Friday to see whether those precincts’ write-in votes can be accessed sooner than 30 days.
Before the Ward 1B and 7B problem was known, Hobert was at City Hall and struck a philosophical tone.
“Hey, it’s only an election. Like my mother used to say, ‘The best you can do is the best you can do,’”Hobert said.
Hobert, 59, works in sales at Power Quality Solutions in Glastonbury, Conn.
Newcomer Miguel A. Vasquez, running a write-in campaign for the seat, unenrolled in terms of party affiliation, received 19 votes with incomplete results in, Bisson said.
Vasquez, 21, is a financial services associate at People’s United Bank here. He said he will compete in the Nov. 6 election as a write-in candidate.
Citywide, voter turnout was about 16 percent, or 4,000 of the 24,815 registered voters.
Vega and Vacon are seated next to each other in City Council Chambers at CIty Hall during meetings.
Vega, 42, was upbeat but clear a lot more work awaits.
“Couldn’t have done it without you guys,” Vega told supporters at his headquarters at Open Square.
“Volunteers made it all happen. Holyoke is on the rise. We’re going to make things happen. We’re going to make Holyoke a strong city again in Western Mass,” he said.
Vega co-owns Vega Yoga & Movement Arts here and is a freelance video editor.
Vacon, 58, health services director at Loomis House, said she was grateful to supporters for following through on pledges to vote for her.
“I just want to say a huge thank you to them for keeping their promises,” Vacon said.
She sees territory to claim because nearly 40 percent of the 3,037 ballots cast in the state representative race opted for choices other than Vega, Vacon said, noting Kane’s total and 279 blanks.
Vacon also noted a comment Kane made shortly after leaving the seat when he said he hoped someone would step forward for the seat “other than Vega.”
“I’d say people agreed with Rep. Kane, anybody but Vega,” Vacon said.