Activists and local moms Martha Bixby and Lisa Gordon will head to November’s general election for a City Council seat representing Ward 6.
In Tuesday’s preliminary election, Bixby topped the list with 882 votes, according to unofficial totals posted on the city website Tuesday night, followed by Gordon with 584 votes. Real estate broker and former New Hampshire state legislator Mark Holt got 124 votes, falling out of the race for the seat.
Bixby, who’s spent years helping efforts against human rights abuses overseas, founded a local organization dedicated to helping local people in need and decided to run for local office to promote eco-friendly policies and get more help for those who need it.
“I am excited to have won the preliminary this evening, and I am humbled by the support from across Ward 6,” Bixby said Tuesday night. “Our campaign has been focused on this community from the very beginning, and I know tonight’s results show that Ward 6 believes in what’s possible when our community comes together.”
Gordon serves as director of the Acton Food Pantry. She originally set out to practice medicine, but a trip to Europe redirected her on a course to activism, and now she wants to bring that passion to the Newton City Council.
Holt ran a steadfast campaign against the Village Center Overlay District plan and was quite blunt in his messaging—using words like “usurped” and “Soviet bloc” to drive home his unquestionable disdain for the re-zoning plan and the MBTA Communities Act—but came up short on returns.
Newton’s general election will be Nov. 7, with early voting starting Oct. 28.