Candidates are set for the 2023 Malden municipal election

Councillor-at-Large candidate Diserio tops the list for most signatures filed for nomination; no 2023 preliminary election necessary: All races will be decided in November

Advocate Staff Report

The 2023 municipal field is set for those who wish to appear on the ballot for this fall’s city election, as the deadline for taking out nomination papers for Malden elected positions was Monday and the deadline for submitting them to the Board of Registrars of Voters came and passed on Tuesday, August 1. Though there will be several races decided in the final election, including the top post in the city, Mayor of Malden, there will be no primary election necessary or held in September to winnow the list of candidates, as it already sits at the appropriate number for the General Election on Tuesday, November 7. All of the deadlines are for spots on the printed ballots, though the possibility does exist for “sticker” campaigns for any resident of the city, whereby a voter could mark a legal ballot by affixing a sticker with the name of a candidate to a ballot in November.

For the second consecutive election, there will be a contested mayoral race. Three-term incumbent Gary Christenson is seeking reelection to a fourth four-year term, and challenger Lissette Aracely Alvarado, a political newcomer, has submitted her necessary nomination signatures, according to information displayed by City Clerk Carol Ann Desiderio on the City of Malden’s website.

For City Council, three ward Council seats are open and the race will feature all three seated incumbents and a fourth candidate, who has collected and submitted the most nomination signatures of any candidate who will appear on the ballot this fall. Incumbent Councillors-at-Large Craig Spadafora, Karen Colón Hayes and Carey McDonald are all seeking reelection. A fourth candidate, Dante Diserio, a 1 Fellsway East resident of the city’s Edgeworth neighborhood, is challenging for one of the three Councillor-at-Large seats. Spadafora is seeking his 10th term as Councillor-at-Large, while Colón Hayes and McDonald are first-term post holders seeking reelection to a second term.

Diserio, who has run for various posts in previous city elections, holds the distinction of collecting the most verified nomination signatures of any candidate in this year’s election – 397 – nearly double the amount required for the Councillor-at-Large spot on the ballot (200 signatures). Hayes, Spadafora and McDonald accumulated 231, 221 and 217 signatures, respectively.

The Ward 5 Councillor’s post being vacated by City Council President Barbara Murphy is being contested at this time by two hopefuls. Councillor Murphy announced earlier this year she was not seeking reelection this year. Ariane Taylor of 57 Mount Vernon St. and Julie Taylor of 265 Forest St. are two challenging to become the next Ward 5 Councillor.

There will be contested elections as well for Ward 2 and Ward 6 Councillors. In Ward 2, the Councillor seat is sought by longtime Ward 2 Councillor Paul Condon, who seeks reelection in a race that includes challenger Sheila Rachels, who is a political newcomer and 20 Presley St. resident.

In Ward 6, first-term Councillor Stephen Winslow seeks reelection and is challenged by Jerry Leone of 91 Webster St., a former Ward 6 School Committee member who has been a candidate for City Council in the past.

Five Ward Councillors will run unopposed on the ballot in the November 7 election. They are as follows: longtime Ward 1 Councillor Peg Crowe; Ward 3 Councillor Amanda Linehan, who is seeking a third term; Ward 3 Councillor Ryan O’Malley, who is seeking a fourth term; Ward 7 Councillor Chris Simonelli, who is seeking a second consecutive term; and Ward 8 Councillor Jadeane Sica, who is seeking a fifth consecutive term.

In the Malden School Committee election seven of the eight ward-based School Committee members and a single candidate for the open Ward 5 School Committee post will face no opposition on the ballot in November. Elizabeth Hortie of 20 Gilbert St. is the only candidate who submitted papers and had the signatures verified for the open Ward 5 seat being vacated by longtime School Committeeman Adam Weldai, who did not seek reelection. For School Committee, the other seven members, all of whom are seeking reelection, are all running unopposed: Michael Drummey (Ward 1), Robert McCarthy, Jr. (Ward 2), Vice Chair Jennifer Spadafora (Ward 3), Dawn Macklin (Ward 4), Joseph Gray (Ward 6), Keith Bernard (Ward 7) and Sharon Rose Zeiberg (Ward 8).

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Following are some other key dates regarding the 2023 Municipal Election:

Saturday, September 9: deadline to register to vote in the September 19 Preliminary Election.

Tuesday, September 19: Municipal Preliminary Election (if needed).

Saturday, October 28: deadline to register to vote in the November 7 Municipal Election.

Tuesday, November 7: Municipal Election.

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For more information on the 2023 Malden Municipal Election and for a detailed look at the candidates and their progress toward attaining their spots on the ballot, go to the City of Malden website at www.cityofmalden.org. Go to “City Clerk” and then “Voting and Elections”.