Melinda Vega Maldonado and Luis Tejada will face off in the Nov. 5 election for the District 2 seat on the City Council following their 1-2 finishes in Tuesday’s Preliminary Election.
Vega Maldonado topped the ticket in the three-candidate field with 89 votes. Tejada, the incumbent District 2 councillor, was second with 58 votes. Attorney Olivia Anne Walsh was third with 32 votes.
Vega Maldonado was joined at City Hall for the tallying of the vote by her mother, Chelsea Collaborative Executive Director Gladys Vega, other members of her family, and supporters.
“It’s a privilege and an honor and a humbling experience to go through this process,” said Vega Maldonado. “I’m here with all my support system that has been with me since Day 1 – they’ve stayed over my house making phone calls and helping my campaign.”
A former member of the School Committee, Vega Maldonado said she was proud to be a candidate in the election in a city she loves.
“I’m a lifelong resident of Chelsea and I live and breathe Chelsea and this is my city and I’m just so happy I could be a part of this new process in my journey and be here for our community,” said Vega Maldonado.
Tejada is seeking his third term as the District 2 councillor, having served for four years.
“I’m grateful and pleased – I have so many different emotions about the support,” said Tejada. “My neighbors from Washington Avenue and Franklin Street and Orange Street all the way to Webster Avenue – everybody sees what I do,” said Tejada. “They know I’m not a sit-on-my-hands, just take-the-title,” he added. “The last four years, we’ve been very pro-active in increasing the security in the area with the lighting, the safety of the traffic pattern, and the improvements at the city steps. We’ve made a lot of improvements in our district.”
Tejada pledged to his supporters that he will work hard in his campaign leading to the election in November.
“I’m going to pull out all the stops,” said Tejada. “It’s more a matter of me getting out there and letting everybody know what I’m about and what I do. We literally changed the look of Soldiers’ Home in the last four years together. I realize, though, it is not my seat – it is the people’s seat and I am grateful that I have an opportunity to continue fighting for our area and improving it.”
Walsh also spoke following the release of the election results at City Hall. “I’m humbled by the support I have received in District 2 and I’ll continue to work for the betterment of the city in any way I can,” said Walsh. “I’ll be urging all of my supporters to support Councillor Tejada in his re-election bid in November