By Adam Swift
Acting Mayor Patrick Keefe and former mayor Dan Rizzo will square off for the city’s top job on Nov. 7 in the municipal general election.
As of press time with unofficial results, Rizzo topped the ballot in the four-way preliminary election for mayor on Tuesday with 2,627 votes, followed by Keefe with 2,488 votes with all precincts reporting with the exception of Ward 5, Precinct 1 late on Tuesday. All vote totals were unofficial as of Tuesday night.
The preliminary race saw four long-time councillors squaring off to replace former mayor Brian Arrigo.
Keefe was the Ward 4 Councillor and Council President before taking over as the acting mayor in the spring when Arrigo took a job as head of the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Rizzo was elected to a single term as mayor in 2012 and currently serves as an at-large councillor.
At-large Councillors Gerry Visconti and Steve Morabito were left out of the running. Visconti finished with 886 votes and Morabito with 608 votes with all precincts reporting with the exception of Ward 5, Precinct 1.
Keefe was a staunch supporter of building the new high school at the Wonderland site, and has campaigned on a platform of continuing the progress he has made in his four months in office and on promoting Revere in a positive light.
When asked for comment, Keefe said, “We ran a really good race and we’re so excited to be taking this into November,” said Keefe. “We knew what we had and what we were stacked up against, and we put an unbelievable, positive campaign out there. We have the best team and we’re going to take this into November, and we’re going to finish this.”
Rizzo has been vocal about bringing smart development to the city and slowing down residential development that he said has taxed city services. He has also pointed to his achievements as an elected mayor in the city from 2013 to 2017.
When asked for comment, Rizzo said, “would like to thank the voters of Revere for confidence in my candidacy and to thank all my amazing volunteers that ran such a great campaign! I look forward to working for the next seven weeks and bringing our positive message for the future of Revere to each and every doorstep in each and every neighborhood.”
In the preliminary vote for at-large City Council, Ed Almeida looked to be the lone candidate of the 11 not to make the final cut for the general election. Ten candidates will be running for five at-large seats on Nov. 7.
Robert Haas III topped the at-large ballot, followed by the two incumbent at-large councilors in the race, Anthony Zambuto and Marc Silvestri, with all precincts but one reporting by Tuesday night.
They will be joined on the general election ballot by Stephen Damiano, Jr., Michelle Kelley, Alexander Rhalimi, Anthony Parziale, Juan Pablo Jaramillo, Donald Martelli, and Wayne Rose.
