BEVERLY — Jerry Parisella, a hometown boy who rose from laborer to lawyer and officer in the U.S. Army Reserve, rolled to victory yesterday in the Democratic primary for state representative.
Parisella defeated fellow attorney Scott Houseman, 1,997 to 1,327, to move on to the November final election against Republican Brett Schetzsle, who was unopposed in yesterday's primary.
Only 13.5 percent of the city's registered voters showed up at the polls, but the ones who did gave Parisella a comfortable victory margin of 60 to 40 percent.
"After thousands of doors knocked on and hundreds of miles of walking and meeting so many people, it feels great that the time and effort paid off," Parisella said as he celebrated with supporters at Stephy's Kitchen, a neighborhood restaurant in Gloucester Crossing.
Parisella said he was home changing his clothes when he received a phone call telling him he had lost Ward 2, Precinct 2. But by the time he arrived at his campaign party, the rest of the results began rolling in and Parisella ended up winning 10 of the city's 12 precincts. Houseman's only other win came in Ward 4, Precinct 2, his home precinct.
Houseman congratulated Parisella in person at Stephy's Kitchen and said he will support him in the race against Schetzsle.
"I ran a strong race," Houseman said. "I thoroughly enjoyed the campaign. I have no regrets. I met lots of great people and had a terrific time."
The campaign between Parisella and Houseman featured few if any differences on the issues, and neither candidate criticized the other.
Parisella, 47, acknowledged that he was aided by his deep roots in the city and a well-known, large family, many of whom were part of last night's celebration.
"I got a lot of comments about the Parisella name, people saying they knew a Parisella," he said. "It makes me feel great that the Parisella name is well-respected in the community. That certainly helps."
Nancy Cunningham, a cousin of Parisella's, said voters appreciated the candidate's up-from-the-bootstraps background. Parisella's father was a construction worker, and he worked as a laborer himself before putting himself through law school. He's also a major in the U.S. Army Reserve and has served in Bosnia, El Salvador and Germany.
"He's like a lot of us that work full time, went to school at night and tries to raise a family," Cunningham said. "He didn't come from any life of privilege. He came from a hardworking family. Jerry has worked for everything he has, like a lot of people in here."
Richard Cunningham, Parisella's uncle, said Parisella is "honest, down-to-earth, caring, approachable."
"You can call him self-made," Cunningham said. "I don't think they can find a better candidate."
Parisella said he knows he has a tough fight ahead in the general election against Schetzsle, a newcomer to politics in Beverly who has been campaigning since last September. Schetzsle met with supporters last night in the Beverly Republican City Committee campaign headquarters across the street from City Hall.
"There's a lot of anger at the party in control, and that's the Democrats," Parisella said. "I'm going to have to show the people of Beverly that I'm not an incumbent and I haven't held office before. They need to look at me as a person and what I can bring to the job and overcome that anger."
The winner of the Parisella-Schetzsle matchup will succeed Mary Grant, the eight-year Democratic incumbent who decided not to run for re-election. Grant stopped by Stephy's Kitchen last night to congratulate Parisella.
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or by e-mail at pleighton@salemnews.com.
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