MANCHESTER, NH – Final results of the 2019 Municipal Primary have been released by the city clerk’s office Tuesday afternoon, with Mayor Joyce Craig and Victoria Sullivan earning enough votes to move on to the general election.
Craig had 57 percent of the votes with 4,996, while Sullivan had 39 percent of the votes with 3,418, and Glenn RJ Ouellette earned 3 percent with 317 votes. Craig won in all but two wards – Sullivan beat her by 29 votes in Ward 8 and by 9 votes in Ward 9.
According to Craig’s campaign, 57 percent of the vote is “the highest percentage of the primary vote that any Mayoral candidate has received in the last 20 years,” based on data available on the City Clerk’s website.
Both Craig and Sullivan go into the general election feeling confident, with their campaigns releasing statements claiming certain victory in November.
Craig’s statement:
“Thank you to the Manchester residents who voted today. In the past two years, we’ve made meaningful progress strengthening our schools, growing our economy, and combating the opioid epidemic,” said Mayor Joyce Craig. “I look forward to continuing our conversations with voters about all we have accomplished, and how we can continue to keep the momentum going to build a stronger Manchester.”
Sullivan’s statement:
Manchester mayoral candidate Victoria Sullivan comes out of the city’s municipal primary in an incredibly strong position to defeat incumbent Mayor Joyce Craig in November.Victoria finished the night with 39 percent of the vote, which is the same number former Mayor Frank Guinta received in the 2005 municipal primary when he went on to defeat Democrat incumbent and former Mayor Bob Baines in the general election.While Baines swept the city in the 2005 primary, winning all 12 wards, Victoria Sullivan won two wards this evening. She took her home ward of Ward 9 and the ward Mayor Joyce Craig grew up in, Ward 8.Surrounded by her family and supporters at her primary election party in Manchester, Victoria Sullivan, candidate for mayor, made the following statement:“Tonight was a great night and I am incredibly humbled at the support we received across Manchester today. This is an amazing movement made up of hard working families in all corners of our city who are ready for change and I am honored to be a part of it.“Queen City residents are standing up and telling Mayor Joyce Craig loud and clear that they will not accept the status quo as their city declines. They refuse to believe that spikes in violent crime, broken tax caps, and a struggling education system are an acceptable future for our city. I stand with them.“I look forward to the coming weeks as we continue to work each and every day to earn the trust of Queen City voters as we fight to take our city back and make Manchester shine once again.”
In other races, the top vote-getters for Alderman-At-Large were incumbents Joe Levasseur with 3,838, and Dan O’Neil with 3,472. Katie Desrochers had 3,266 votes, with Will Infantine at 1,899.
In the School Committee At-Large, there were no incumbents in the race. Top vote-getter was James O’Connell with 2,663 votes followed closely by Gene Martin with 2,662, then Joseph Lachance with 2,445 and Lara Quiroga with 2,159.
Results have been updated as of Tuesday at 5 p.m. and are considered final.
Below are the top vote-getters in the mayoral primary as well as for alderman and school committee at-large and the various contested ward offices. All results are in the spreadsheet below.
Names in bold will be on the November general election ballot, pending final verification by the Secretary of State’s office.
Mayor:
Joyce Craig (incumbent): 4,996
Victoria Sullivan: 3,418
Glenn RJ Ouellette: 317
Alderman At-Large
Joe Levasseur (incumbent): 3,842
Dan O’Neil (incumbent): 3,479
Katie Desrochers: 3,271
Will Infantine: 1,903
Cathleen Farley: 1,203
Jon Claude Hopwood: 436
School Committee At-Large:
Gene Martin: 2,669
James O’Connell: 2,668
Joseph Lachance: 2,449
Lara Quiroga: 2,163
Carlos Gonzalez: 2,128
Jason Hodgdon: 671
Alderman Ward 5:
Tony Sapienza (incumbent): 179
Marcus Ponde de Leon: 53
Cameron Barr: 51
Alderman Ward 7:
Ross Terrio: 298
Brenda Noiseux: 255
Brian Cole: 101
Alderman Ward 11
Russ Ouellette: 199
Normand Gamache (incumbent): 188
Andre Rosa: 130
School Committee Ward 6
Dan Bergeron (incumbent): 440
Jon DiPietro: 299
William Bergquist: 76