Newly elected state representative Brendan Crighton and his wife, Andrea
Crighton, enter Hibernian Hall to cheers and a standing ovation at the post-election victory party Tuesday night.
Showing strength at the polls throughout the 11th Essex District, Councilor-at-Large Brendan Crighton won election to the state representative seat Tuesday.
Crighton received 2,370 votes to top the three-candidate field. School Committee member Charlie Gallo finished second with 1,395 votes. Aikaterini Panagiotakis Koudanis received 229 votes.
Crighton won the Democratic primary for the seat. There is no Republican candidate in the final election on Nov. 4.
Kevin Crighton introduced his brother as, “the guest of honor,” Brendan Crighton and his wife, Andrea Crighton upon their arrival for the celebration at the Hibernian Hall. The candidate exchanged congratulatory handshakes and triumphant hugs with his supporters before addressing the gathering.
“Thank you so much,” said Crighton, expressing first his gratitude to his wife and his family. “I’m just overwhelmed right now. I’m so excited to start this. Early on, a wise man said, ‘Plan your work and work your plan,’ and I think that’s what we did throughout this campaign. It took an army of people and over eight months of just hard work and commitment toward this. This is a victory for everybody here. Without all of your support, we could not have done this.”
Crighton added, “I want to recognize one special person, Meaghan Hamill, my campaign manager.”
Hamill, who led a brilliant campaign that attracted many volunteers and workers, talked about the campaign effort that resulted in a tremendous victory and the candidate himself.
“I could not be more proud of Brendan,” said Hamill. “It was a long few months but he worked so hard from the very beginning and I think he is the best candidate for the job and he is going to be the best representative for this district. It was an honor to work for him in my first time as a campaign manager. Brendan was out knocking on doors every single day and we had a great team behind us with a lot of volunteers. Brendan’s family was phenomenal and his wife, Andrea was amazing. It was like having a second candidate knocking on doors as well. It was grassroots and Brendan was the leader.”
Concluding his remarks to supporters, Crighton said, “Thank you to everybody so much. I owe you guys big time and I plan to make you proud.”
“I’m looking forward to serving with Brendan in the legislature,” said State Rep. Robert Fennell. “I have had a great working relationship with Brendan for the past nine years. There were three great candidates and I’m ready to work on Day 1 with Brendan.”
Crighton indicated that he will serve out the remainder of his term as councilor-at-large on the City Council and will not seek re-election to that position in 2015.
At an election night gathering at Old Tyme Italian Cuisine, Gallo said, “I called Brendan to congratulate him. On our side we ran a great race. We were the hardest working campaign. I have the best friends, family, and supporters in the world and I’m grateful for them.”