The elections for Waltham mayor and city councilors took place on Nov. 5 and featured several close races and upsets of longtime incumbent councilors. 

Incumbent mayor Jeanette McCarthy defeated challenger Diane LeBlanc, according to a Nov. 5 Waltham Wicked Local article. In the same article, Waltham Wicked Local reported that McCarthy is now the longest-serving mayor in the city’s history, having held the position since 2003. A Nov. 7 Patch Waltham article reported that McCarthy received 7,758 votes to LeBlanc’s 3,791, with 11,549 voting in total.

The same Waltham Wicked Local article reported that Jonathan Paz defeated incumbent City Councilor Robert Logan in Ward 9. Logan served as councilor for the past 30 years, according to the same article. The Nov. 7 Patch Waltham article reported that at 26 years of age, this will make Paz one of the youngest councilors Waltham’s history. Paz is the son of Bolivian immigrants and his father was deported in 2007, according to his website. He won the race with 496 votes, compared to Logan’s 377.

A second Nov. 7 Patch Waltham article reported that in Ward 2 the losing candidate, Bill Hanley, will be asking for a recount, due to only losing to Caren Dunn by 10 votes. Ward 2 includes the planned site for Waltham’s new high school building — a project which has attracted controversy. The same Patch Waltham article said that the last recount in a municipal election was years ago on the topic of “the community preservation act.”

The Nov. 5 Patch Waltham article reported that there was a 34% voter turnout, with 11,743 residents turning out to vote out of 34,423 registered voters. Patch Waltham reported that this is significantly high amount of voters, despite the “dreary weather.”