By Andrew Slade, For the Gavel -

With no Congressional elections in which to vote this Election Day, many students have overlooked the vital local contests taking place. Paramount among them is the hotly contested race for mayor of Newton, in which many Boston College students are eligible to vote for the chief executive of the city where they live eight months out of the year.

The two major candidates on the ballot are Democrats Ruth Balser and Setti Warren. The incumbent, Mayor David Cohen (D), is not seeking reelection.

Over the past several months, Balser and Warren have been campaigning hard, raising and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, each collecting major endorsements. Now, with the election just a couple of days away, it seems the results could swing in either’s favor.

Ruth Balser, 61, was a member of Newton’s Board of Aldermen from 1988 to 1996, and has served as a Massachusetts State Representative since 1999. A clinical psychologist by trade, Balser has been a Newton resident since receiving her doctorate from New York University. Before being elected to public office, Balser helped found the Newton Child Care Commission. In the State House, she presently serves as vice-chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health, while also holding seats on the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

On Sept. 10, Balser received the endorsement of The Boston Globe, which cited her “proven ability to get things done in government.”

Setti Warren, 39, is a Newton native and a member of the BC class of 1993. As a sophomore, Warren was elected president of UGBC. After college, he worked in President Clinton’s Office of Cabinet Affairs before beginning a brief stint as the New England Director of FEMA. Warren then returned to BC to work in the development office, eventually leaving to take a job as national trip director of the 2004 presidential campaign of Senator John Kerry. Kerry endorsed Warren and will appear at a fundraiser for Warren on Sunday in the Newton Centre Green. Warren returned to Massachusetts following Kerry’s defeat to serve as his deputy state director. Last year, Warren returned home from a one-year tour of duty in Iraq, having been called up from the Naval Reserve as an intelligence officer.

On Oct. 28, the Netwon TAB endorsed Warren, stating, “Balser would make a good mayor,” but that “Warren has the potential to be an outstanding mayor.”

Obviously, strong arguments could be made for the qualifications of both candidates. Balser has spent nearly 20 years in elected office, while Warren’s name has not appeared on a ballot since his days as an Eagle. In the minds of some voters, this is an advantage to Warren, who is generally seen as a representative of change from the manner in which business is typically conducted at City Hall, and on the campaign trail where Warren has gone door to door to listen to voters’ concerns. In his own words, Warren brings to the table a “fresh perspective.” Others, however, see attempting to make the office of mayor one’s first elected position as a cut in the line full of patiently waiting aldermen and state legislators. For these voters, Representative Balser is the more popular choice.

The work performed by a mayor, however, is not legislative, which is the type of experience Balser mostly has. Consequently, the case could be made that Warren’s numerous positions in management better suit him for the job, in spite of never being elected to these positions. Balser supporters would conversely argue that it is better to have spent more significant periods of time in one or two jobs as she did, than it is to have sampled the half dozen or so different positions in which Warren has worked over the past 15 years.

Given the candidates’ very similar positions on policy, the voters’ decision on Nov. 3 is going to come down to basically, who do they feel is better equipped with the intangible qualities necessary to institute reform; who will be a better leader?

Up to this point, the residents of Newton have been unable to reach a consensus in answering these questions, as evidenced by an informal Internet survey at polldaddy.com in which Balser holds a one-point lead over Warren, with similar results shown in a web-based Newton TAB poll.

All indications say that this election could be very close. Newton residents are urged to vote this Tuesday, bearing in mind the impact city government may have on student residents.