By Susannah Sudborough
Staff Writer
Published by The Enterprise
BROCKTON — Incumbent Mayor Robert Sullivan came out on top in a landslide victory in Tuesday's preliminary election, garnering more than three times as many votes as his nearest competitor.
He and Councilor-at-large Tina Cardoso, who came in second, will now go head to head in the November election.
Sullivan received 4,236 votes, or 71 percent of the vote, while Cardoso came in second with 1,330 votes, or 22 percent.
A third candidate, veteran and activist Eugenie Kavanagh was eliminated from the race, garnering 225 votes, or 3 percent. There were 58 unresolved write-in votes, and approximately 200 people did not choose a candidate for mayor.
The preliminary election narrowed the field for the offices of mayor, councilor at-large, Wards 2, 3 and 6 councilor, and Ward 3 school committee down to twice the number of seats available.
For mayor and most other seats, that is just two people, while for the councilor at-large position, which has four seats available, the race was narrowed down to eight candidates.
A total of 5,968 people voted in the election out of 57,744 active registered voters in Brockton, meaning only about 10% of potential voters voted in this election.
In the race for the four councilor at-large seats, in which people could vote for up to four candidates, incumbent Rita Mendes got the most votes with 2,796 votes, meaning approximately 47 percent of people who voted, voted for her.
Incumbent Moises Rodrigues did almost as well, with 2,780 votes, and incumbent and Council President Winthrop Farwell Jr. was not far behind with 2,568 votes, amounting to approximately 43 percent of the vote.
Out of the challengers in the race, Gary Keith Sr. did the best, garnering 1,812 votes, or 30 percent. He was followed by Jean Bradley Derenoncourt who got 1,619 votes, or 27 percent. David Teixeira was not far behind with 1,566, or 26 percent.
The last two candidates to make it through the preliminary election were Michael Nunes, who got 863 votes, or 14 percent, and Jamal Brathwaite, who got 530 votes, or 9 percent.
Julio Pomar was eliminated, getting only 434 votes, or 7 percent, as was Widmayer Ambroise, who got 312 votes, or 5 percent.
In the Ward 2 councilor race, in which 549 people voted, Maria Tavares came out on top with 317 votes, or 53 percent. Jamie Hodges came in second with 176 votes, or 29 percent. Rigoberto Quinones was eliminated, garnering only 56 votes, or 9 percent.
In the Ward 3 councilor race, in which 974 people voted, current Ward 3 School Committee member Mark D'Agostino got the most votes with 588 votes, or 55 percent of the vote. Gerson Sergio Monteiro will be facing him in November after coming in second with 203, or 19 percent of the vote.
George Brickhouse Jr. was eliminated from the race after getting only 183 votes, or 17 percent.
In the Ward 6 councilor race, in which 928 people voted, incumbent John Lally came out on top with 657 votes, or 68 percent. In November, he will be facing John Troxell Jr., who just edged out the other challenger, Elizabeth Ann Laso. The two candidates garnered 137 and 134 votes, respectively.
In the Ward 3 School Committee race, in which 948 people voted, Jared Homer won the with 365 votes, or 34 percent. In November, he will be facing Alan Green, who got 245 votes, or 23 percent.
Ana Oliver was eliminated after getting 209 votes, or 20 percent, as was Matthew Stanton, who got 129 votes, or 12 percent.