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Two newcomers won seats on New Bedford’s City Council on Tuesday night. James Roy, the at-large challenger, finished with the second-highest vote total among the 10 candidates. And Scott Pemberton, the Ward 2 challenger, unseated incumbent Maria Giesta in a close race that was decided by only 17 votes.
All other incumbents won re-election in the at-large and ward races — including Naomi Carney, who had finished in seventh place in the preliminary. Carney leaped over the challengers Devin Byrnes and Jennifer Arruda to hold her seat.
Peter Berthiaume was re-elected as assessor, the misunderstood and often non-competitive role in city government that plays a role in the tax process. He will serve a six-year term as one of the city’s three elected assessors.
Roy and Pemberton were the biggest shocks of the night. Both candidates knocked on thousands of doors — Pemberton in his home Ward 2, and Roy across the city for his at-large bid. Both cited door knocking in earlier conversations with The Light as the main strategy of their campaigns.
“I’m just overwhelmed right now,” Pemberton said when reached by phone on Tuesday night. He added that he wanted to “thank [Giesta] for running her campaign and her years of service.”
Pemberton, who works in security, was able to unseat Giesta, who has not faced any challengers since first winning the seat in 2017. He currently serves as the president of the North End Neighborhood Association, and he campaigned on lowering taxes and improving constituent services.
Roy ran on a progressive platform — citing support for affordable housing, union labor, and immigrant rights. He could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. His broad strokes of progressivism included “fight[ing] for policies that make housing affordable,” according to his campaign website.
These challengers elected to City Council may indicate a change in New Bedford’s political winds. Before Tuesday, no at-large incumbent had failed to win reelection in more than a decade.
But their campaigns lacked many specifics about what changes they might bring.
In an interview with The Light on housing, Roy was one of many candidates who said he would support policies that were already in place. On other issues-based interviews, Roy advocated for more transparency and community input, but didn’t back many specific policies. (One exception: Roy said he would have voted to keep the zoning for duplexes that City Council accidentally allowed, then repealed.)
Pemberton did not participate in these interviews. During a separate interview with The Light’s columnist, Jack Spillane, Pemberton offered no policy specifics.
Shane Burgo, the current council president, who was re-elected with the third-highest vote total among councilors (one spot behind Roy), said he was excited to work with Roy, but was “shocked and dismayed” about Pemberton’s victory.
“My colleague [Giesta] has been an amazing representative for Ward 2 and her constituents,” Burgo said. In the Ward 2 race, “One person was prepared, and the other was speaking only off platitudes,” Burgo said, specifically citing Pemberton’s interview with Spillane.
“I’m looking forward to working alongside Roy,” Burgo summarized, “but fearful of what Pemberton believes he can do.”
Carney bounces back on a good night for incumbents
Naomi Carney survived a challenge from some upstart opponents. After finishing seventh in the preliminary (behind Byrnes, Roy, and just behind Arruda), Carney was able to make a late push, spending $8,320 in October alone.
This was by the far the most of any candidate for City Council in the last full month of campaigning.
Carney’s late push brought her to a fifth-place finish, enough to secure reelection. All four at-large incumbents won reelection. Linda Morad, the retiring at-large councilor, stopped by City Hall on Tuesday night, but said she had no regrets: “Twenty years is enough,” Morad said.
Election Day in photos
Ian Abreu, Burgo, and Brian Gomes also won reelection in the at-large race. Incumbents Leo Choquette and Joseph Lopes also won handily in the Wards 1 and 5 races.
Abreu, again the council’s top vote-getter, said on Tuesday that he was “very honored and blessed” to be reelected. “There’s lots of challenges ahead, but I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running,” Abreu said.
Gomes inches closer to four decades on the City Council. First elected in 1991, Gomes has served longer than colleagues Burgo and Pereira have been alive. (Gomes has served for 33 years; he ran for mayor in 2001 and lost his City Council seat, but returned to fill a vacant council seat in 2002.) In this cycle, Gomes didn’t start fundraising or spending until late in the election season: an October ad-buy for $885 with the talk station WBSM comprised the large majority of Gomes’ roughly $1,450 campaign spending activity.
Burgo had represented the lone progressive-left voice among the City Council — and will now be joined by Roy. Burgo campaigned on housing affordability and increasing voting accessibility. Notable for Democrats in New Bedford, however, was that Burgo (a Democrat) spent much of the campaign lambasting New Bedford’s mayor, Jon Mitchell (also a Democrat), and calling for his ouster.
Joe Lopes will return to the council for only his second term representing Ward 5, winning 57% of the vote to challenger Renee Fernandes’ 42%. The longtime Ward 6 councilor lost reelection in 2021 to Ryan Pereira, and won his current seat in 2023. The seasoned councilor has now handily beat challengers in two consecutive elections.
Leo Choquette won a second term representing Ward 1, winning 71% over challenger Matthew Marko’s 28%. Choquette’s first term was marked by the Parallel Products saga — the business that proposed building a waste-transfer facility near residential neighborhoods in the North End, which was highly unpopular among Ward 1 residents and ultimately blocked by the city’s Board of Health. Voters may have rewarded Choquette for his outspoken opposition to the project.
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org
When reports are filed we will see Roy, Permberton and Porter revived most money from outside New Bedford. Congratulations to the surrounding towns in their picks.
I am curious about how you reached this assumption.
Just goes to show you that it’s all about whoever raised the most money and spends it wisely, will get elected. Going door to door isn’t always the answer. I just hope that these far left councilors become more moderate in their thinking.
I am also curious about the information you have to support this assumption.
Point of clarification:
“These challengers elected to City Council may indicate a change in New Bedford’s political winds. Before Tuesday, no at-large incumbent had failed to win reelection in more than a decade. ”
This is still true. No at-large incumbent failed to win reelection yesterday, either. There was an open seat.
Congratulations to Naomi Carney for rising up and getting re-elected (it is great to see that a woman will retain a voice on the city council).
Congratulations to Ward 3 Councilor Shawn Oliver if you break down the vote, percentage wise he was the strongest candidate and should be the next city council president.
Congratulations to Scott Pemberton, glad to see Ward 2 wake up and elect him.
Congratulations to Councilor Choquette, glad to see Ward 1 provide overwhelming support for all his hard work.
In Ward Six Councilor Pereira received only 700 Votes, showing that the ward residents were sending him a clear vote of no confidence, he needs to work harder and be more reliable councilor.
The real loser in yesterdays election was the city of New Bedford where we saw again less than 15,000 out of 78,000 registered voters going to the poles, just dismal.
Like the majority of homeowners/property tax payers, I’m opposed to any, and all additional low income housing in New Bedford.
Any additional low income housing just adds more low income residents, and many more vehicles on the road, and worse yet, the already limited parking in most areas with existing multi-family housing.