The winners in the Nov. 4, 2025 Watertown Election did not always win the most precincts, and voters in different parts of town preferred different candidates.
City Councilor
In the Councilor At-Large race, the candidate with the highest vote total did not win the most precincts, and the support varied by section of town.
Incumbent Tony Palomba won the most precincts, with six, but finished with the second most votes, 3,389. He won precincts 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7. The top total, with 3,418, went to incumbent John Gannon who had the highest number of tallies in precincts 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.
Challenger Theo Offei was the top vote-getter in precinct 5. He had the fourth most votes, 2,999, to secure the final spot on the Council. Incumbent Caroline Bays finished with the third most votes, 3,030, and tied for second most votes in Precinct 4. Challenger and former City Auditor Tom Tracy received 2,232 votes, and had the third most votes in Precinct 11.
Gannon dominated the Westside of Watertown, while Palomba topped ballots on the East half of town. Gannon’s biggest margin came in Precinct 11, where he had 49 more than Palomba. In Precinct 2, Palomba had 48 more votes than Gannon.
In the District C Councilor race, incumbent Vincent Piccirilli won with 1,042 votes over challenger Andres Guzman, who got 307 votes. The greatest margin was in Precinct 7 where Piccirilli received 333 more tallies. The closest precinct was 9, where the margin was only 109 for Piccirilli.
Other City Councilors ran unopposed in 2025. City Council President Mark Sideris received 4,178 votes, District A Councilor Nicole Gardner received 934 votes, District B Councilor Lisa Feltner received 1,012, and District D Councilor Emily Izzo received 934 votes.
School Committee
The three winners of the School Committee race each topped multiple precincts. The votes also differed by area of town.
Incumbent Jessica Middlebrook received the most votes with 3,163. She had the most tallies in five precincts — 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 — which are in the East End and center of Watertown. The greatest margin of victory for Middlebrook, 45 votes, was in precinct 4.
Newcomer Sheila Krishnan took second overall with 2,991 votes. She took top spot in precincts 1 and 9. In Precinct 9, she had 32 more votes than the second place candidate.
Incumbent Amy Donohue won four precincts — 7, 10, 11, and 12 — which are on the Westside of town. She had a total of 2,916 and took the third School Committee seat. The top precinct for Donohue was 11, where had 18 more than the next person.
Challenger Joe Ganno had the fourth most votes, with 1,570, and his best showing was in fourth in precincts 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, and 12. Former School Committee member David Stokes received 1,465 votes. He was fourth in precinct 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and 9.
See the complete precinct-by-precinct results below. Put the cursor over the document to see controls to scroll through pages. Unofficial-Results-General-election-November-4-2025-PDF
Library Trustees
Incumbent Leanne Hammonds received the most votes overall by more than 400, with a total tally of 3,547. She also dominated the precinct-by-precinct vote, garnering the most votes in 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. The best showing came in Precinct 11, which she won by 82 votes.
Second place in the totals was newcomer Pia Owens, with 3,104 votes. She received the most votes in precincts 1 and 3. The largest margin came in Precinct 3, where she had 15 more than Hammonds.
Challenger Xin Peng took the third spot on the board, with 2,894 votes. Peng finished second in three precincts: 6, 8, and 10.
Fowler Brown, a first-time candidate, received 1,287 votes. His highest vote total came in Precinct 8, with 153.
Turnout
A total of 5,085 voters cast ballots in the 2025 Watertown Municipal Election. With a total of 23,824 registered voters, the voter turnout was 21.3 percent. The total was 1,388 more voters than in 2023, when the voter turnout was 14.6 percent; but 1,084 less than in 2021 when the turnout was 24 percent.
The most ballots were cast in Precinct 4 with 622, closely followed by 602 in Precinct 8. The fewest votes came in precinct 1, where 255 ballots were cast.
The total number of registered voters in Watertown dropped by 1,471 from 2023 to 2025.
How sad is the small percentage of voters who turned out for the elections! So many people are heard complaining about issues, yet where are they when their voice truly counts?
What could be their reasons for not showing up when they have the opportunity to early vote, submit absentee ballots, mail in ballots, or vote in person? Is it apathy or not following what the issues are in our city closely enough to make intelligent decisions? Who knows, but it’s truly a shame to not take advantage of one of our most important rights.
There were forums, question and answer sessions, articles in Watertown News and reminders from city websites on the details of the candidates and their positions and yet people didn’t show up. It may take time to be informed, but wouldn’t this be a better use of time than the hours spent being on line or on your phones?
With the opportunity to watch most city meetings on Zoom, it is easier than ever to be aware of important issues and how they affect us so that you can react and respond in a timely manner.
As President John F. Kennedy said: “The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.”