2 Newton incumbents ousted; Yeo prevails
In Newton’s election Tuesday, two incumbents lost their seats while Jonathan Yeo sailed to a fourth School Committee term after a bitter court battle to stay on the ballot.
Charles Shapiro fell short in his bid for reelection to the Board of Aldermen, and Susan Rosenbaum was bumped from the School Committee.
After a hotly contested race, Yeo easily defeated Margaret Albright, 5,485 to 3,010, for the Ward 2 seat on the School Committee, according to unofficial results released by the city’s Election Commission.
Yeo’s candidacy had been challenged by two Newton residents who wanted Yeo thrown off the ballot over questions about his Ward 2 residency.
After a series of court challenges, the state Appeals Court reinstated the initial ruling by the Newton Election Commission that declared Yeo, who previously lived in Ward 4, an eligible candidate in his new neighborhood.
Yeo said the challenge was politically motivated. Albright steadfastly denied any involvement, focusing on her key issue of implementing all-day kindergarten in Newton.
Turnout was about 18 percent, as 9,841 out of 54,102 registered voters went to the polls.
There were three contested races for at-large alderman positions, with the top two vote-getters in each ward winning seats on the board:
■ In Ward 1, Janet Sterman was unsuccessful in her challenge to incumbents Carleton Merrill and Allan Ciccone Jr., who were both reelected. Sterman came in third place with 2,502 votes. Ciccone led with 5,344 votes while Merrill garnered 4,754.
■ In Ward 6, Greg Schwartz finished ahead of Shapiro, outpolling the incumbent 5,209 to 3,512. The other incumbent on the ballot, Victoria Danberg, got the most votes with 5,476.
■ In Ward 8, David Kalis won a spot on the board with 5,607 votes, while incumbent Mitchell Fischman was reelected with 4,615 votes. Thomas Sheff lost his bid, with 2,183 votes.
In the other School Committee races, Steven Siegel defeated incumbent Rosenbaum 4,613 to 3,445 for the Ward 5 seat. In Ward 4, Diana Gomberg narrowly defeated Joshua Krintzman, 4,171 to 3,907.
