Somerville voters resoundingly rejected their incumbent mayor Tuesday, choosing instead to advance two new mayoral candidates through the city’s preliminary contest and onto the November general election, according to unofficial election results.
Mayor Katjana Ballantyne received 2,847 votes in the preliminary contest, or 23.3%, placing third, according to unofficial tallies.
The top vote-getter, City Councilor Jake Wilson, moved through to the final stage of the race with 41.9%, or 5,109 votes, unofficial tallies showed.
He will face fellow City Councilor Willie Burnley, Jr., who moved on with 4,117 votes, or 33.7%, leading the mayor by a comfortable 10 points, the initial results showed.
With 100% of precincts reporting, Ballantyne conceded the race Tuesday night, the Boston Globe reported.
Ballantyne was first elected in 2021, succeeding longtime Mayor Joseph Curtatone. She is completing her second term.
The next mayor will take over a city at odds with the federal government.
Partnering with nearby Chelsea, Somerville sued the Trump administration in February, seeking to protect funding that the government had threatened to cut over the two cities’ local laws limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
Wilson, a Somerville resident since 2004, announced his candidacy in December. Burnley followed in February.
In a 12-candidate field for the city’s four at-large city council seats, incumbent Will Mbah earned first place with 7,409 votes. Ben Wheeler, a technology educator, placed second with 6,289 votes, followed by incumbent At-Large Councilor Kristen Strezo with 5,526 votes.
Also moving to the general election for at-large councilor were Jonathan Link (3,499 votes), Marianne Walles (3,322 votes), Jack Perenick (3,037 votes), Holly Simione (2,827) and Scott Istvan (2,816 votes), according to unofficial tallies.
Twenty-three percent of the city’s 52,243 registered voters cast ballots Tuesday.
Ballantyne both raised and spent the most of any of the three mayoral candidates this year. Beginning the year with more than $50,000 in her campaign account, she raised another $84,671 and spent $108,573, according to campaign finance records.
Wilson raised $61,494, spent $62,866 and has $14,772 in his campaign account for the general election. Burnley, meanwhile, raised $58,202 and spent $25,617 this year. He will carry $37,928 into the general election.
