State Sen. Brendan Crighton, State Rep. Dan Cahill, and State Rep.-Elect Peter Capano celebrated their victories at a party Tuesday night at April’s Restaurant.
The mood was festive as the three officials accepted congratulatory wishes from family, friends, and fellow Lynn residents and mingled with the many guests. All three officials were elected without opposition.
Crighton was re-elected to the 3rd Essex Senate District seat following an earlier victory in a special election in March. Cahill was re-elected a second time to the 10th Essex District seat after winning a special election in 2016.
Capano, the current Ward 6 Councillor, was elected to the 11th Essex District seat that includes West Lynn and Nahant. Capano had won the Democratic primary in September, defeating Lynn Museum Director Drew Russo and Councillor-at-Large Hong Net in a hotly contested election.
Crighton, considered a rising star in the Senate, was joined by his parents, Kevin Crighton and Diane Crighton, and his brother, Kevin Crighton, at the celebration.
“We are proud of the efforts during this campaign and past legislative session, but it’s time for the North Shore delegation to get back to work,” said Crighton. “We are excited to be joined by new state representative, Pete Capano, and we are ready to work together to help our entire district reach its full potential.”
Cahill, who is still basking in the glow of an extraordinary stint as toastmaster at the Lynn Boys and Girls Club Dinner, said he was humbled by the continued strong support from the residents of his district.
“I’m very grateful to the people who continue to support me and continue to elect me and put me in office to fight for their values and fight for their communities and their neighborhoods, for education and healthcare and their jobs – all the important things that we need in our lives,” said Cahill. “It’s an honor to serve them and it’s an honor to represent them. I fight every day to make sure that I bring home the necessary resources for Lynn.”
Prior to becoming a state representative, Cahill was elected as a councillor-at-large for five terms and to the School Committee for two terms.
He is looking forward to working with Crighton and Capano in the next session.
“We have a great team and historically Lynn has had a great team in the legislature,” said Cahill. “My colleagues comment to me how Lynn tends to send really hard-working representatives to Beacon Hill. Pete Capano is another strong member coming aboard and it really shows the strength of the delegation and what that means in the value we give back to our community.”
Brian Castellanos, who was elected to the School Committee last November, said as a newly elected official he was honored to serving with three legislators for the betterment of Lynn.
“It’s humbling as a newly elected public servant myself to share that platform with them and work with them on the issues facing the City of Lynn,” said Castellanos. “These men were my models as a kid and it’s inspiring to watch their journey as leaders not only in Lynn, but in the Commonwealth.”
Capano said he was excited to be elected to the esteemed position and ready to begin his work in the state legislature upon his inauguration in January.
“It feels great to be elected – there was a lot of hard work that took us to this point and here we are, I’m ready to go,” said Capano.
He offered his gratitude to the voters in his district who have sent him to Beacon Hill to represent them in the 160-member body.
“I want to say thank you for voting for me and I’ll do my best to do a great job at the State House,” said Capano. “I’ll work really hard and try to have an impact for the district.”
State Rep. Donald Wong and State Rep. Lori Ehrlich, who represent parts of Lynn, were also re-elected to office.