METHUEN — Central District council candidates Sharon Birchall, Ella MacLaren, Yanilda Santos and LouAnn Santos will be proceeding on to the regular election in November, according to unofficial results released Tuesday night.
Six candidates had sought the two council seats representing the central district triggering the preliminary election held Tuesday. Candidates Derrick (Tony) Jones and Steve Gillis are no longer in the running having received the lowest vote count.
MacLaren received the most votes at 280, followed by Yanilda Santos at 188, Birchall at 146, LouAnn Santos at 133, Jones at 99 and Gillis at 83.
The race for central district councilor was the only local contest that required a preliminary vote and there had been no incumbents in the running for central district. There are nine seats in total on the city council.
MacLaren, 20, is a college student and political science major in the Merrimack College Honors Program. Yanilda Santos, 48, is a residential mortgage loan officer and Birchall, 68, is the director of development at Top Notch Scholars, a Lawrence based nonprofit.
LouAnn Santos, 48, is a former member of the School Committee.
According to the unofficial results a total of 550 ballots were cast in the preliminary election out of 13,200 registered voters.
At around 6 p.m., City Clerk Anne Drouin said turnout was low with only a few hundred ballots cast so far.
Central District Councilor Joyce Campagnone and former Councilor Joel Faretra are not seeking reelection.
Central district is comprised of precincts 1, 2, 6, 6A, 10 and 14. Voting took place at Timony Grammar School.