Eunice Zeigler Declared Governor's Council District 5 Winner: AP

Zeigler edged Peabody City Councilor Anne Manning-Martin, who ran as a Republican challenger, and independent Jody Elliot.

According to unofficial results late Wednesday afternoon, Zeigler earned 47.1 percent of the vote, with Manning-Martin at 40.9 percent and Elliot at 11.9 percent with nearly 400,000 votes counted in the race to represent Beverly, Danvers, Peabody, Salem, North Andover, Tewksbury, Wilmington and more than a dozen other cities and towns across the North Shore and Merrimack Valley.

"It is with a grateful heart that I announce: 'We did it!" Zeigler said in a statement to Patch on Wednesday afternoon. "We started this journey a year ago with a vision. One rooted in community and partnership as we advocate for fair judges and a transparent judicial system."

The confirmation of state judges is one of the powers of the Governor's Council with Manning-Martin at one point in the campaign challenging Zeigler to match her pledge to only confirm judges who agree to work with federal ICE detainers in criminal cases.

Zeigler responded to Patch that she "will only support judges that uphold the constitution. Doing otherwise could prove unconstitutional and illegal.

"Furthermore, it would go against the Governor's Council's main duties to protect the judicial system," she said.

While Manning-Martin found the climb to victory daunting in the overwhelmingly Democratic district, she did score a decisive triumph among Peabody voters with 16,038 votes to Zeigler's 7,889.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at X/Twitter: