CAMBRIDGE — Election traffic was strong at Sailwinds Park in Cambridge on July 12. Residents of all wards turned out for the city election, in spite of the fact that only two commissioner seats were being contested. City Wards 3 & 4 were the focus of the bulk of the voters. In Ward 3, incumbent Frank Cooke and ward resident La-Shon Foster were the choices for City Council. At the final tally, La-Shon Foster took the win with a total of 179 votes to Frank Cooke’s 166. In Ward 4, Dion Banks and Dave Cannon were vying for the seat left vacant by Councilperson Gage Thomas, who chose not to run for re-election this year. Dave Cannon wound up taking the win by a slim margin, 151 votes to 139 votes for Mr. Banks. Absentee ballots played a very big role in the election this year, and were the deciding votes in both case in Ward 3 and 4. La-Shon Foster gathered 117 absentee ballots, while Frank Cooke only received 46 absentee ballots. The Ward 4 race saw fewer absentee ballots, but they were the deciding factor. Mr. Cannon received 23 absentee votes, while Mr. Banks only received 7 absentee votes. Also deciding not to run for re-election this year was Ward 1 Commissioner Jackie Vickers. Her vacant seat only saw one application, from retired judge Stephen Rideout, who consequently ran unopposed for the Ward 1 seat. Judge Rideout received a total of 145 votes. In Ward 2, Commissioner and current Acting Mayor Donald Sydnor ran unopposed in the election, as did Commissioner Robert Hanson. With no opponents to draw votes or voters, the two commissioners received 50 votes for Mr. Sydnor, and 60 votes for Mr. Hanson. Two-term Mayor Victoria Jackson-Stanley, who retired as Mayor earlier this year to comply with state employee pension retirement regulations, ran as the sole candidate for Mayor of Cambridge. She received 653 votes in the election. The total number of ballots cast were 915 votes, including 688 machine votes and 227 absentee votes. The Cambridge City Commissioners will be sworn in at the next City Council meeting on July 25. Editor’s note: In the interest of full disclosure, Dave Cannon is currently the General Manager for the Dorchester Banner.