Ominous season for incumbents
Several sitting mayors face strong challenges this year, with a couple fighting for their political lives
Several hotly contested mayoral races and a ballot fight over a proposed new governmental charter are among the highlights as 21 area communities prepare to hold their biennial elections.
In addition to electing mayors, area voters will choose candidates to fill seats on councils, boards of aldermen, school committees, and other panels in municipal elections Nov. 3.
Fourteen mayoral seats are on ballots this year, of which 11 are contested. Drawing particular notice are races for open seats in Lawrence and Newburyport, and strong challenges to sitting mayors in Lynn and Woburn.
The center stage attraction in Saugus is a ballot proposal that would replace the 50-member Town Meeting with a 27-member Town Assembly while retaining the Board of Selectmen - to be known as the Select Board - and the town manager. Supporters and opponents are both pressing their cases.
Ballot questions are also generating heat in Malden and Revere.
In Malden, voters will consider eliminating the city’s controversial pay-as-you-throw trash system. The ballot measure in Revere would require the School Committee to suspend its policy of allowing students to obtain contraceptives from the clinic at the high school with the consent of their parents. The question, sponsored by a citizens group, calls for an advisory council to evaluate the health risks and benefits of contraception and of abstinence.
The mayor’s races in Lynn and Woburn have gained attention after preliminary elections saw challengers outpace the incumbents.
In Lynn, Councilor at large Judith Flanagan Kennedy managed a first-place preliminary finish over Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr., despite running as a write-in candidate, to win the right to challenge Clancy in the final. In Woburn, Ward 3 Councilor Scott D. Galvin narrowly outpolled Mayor Thomas L. McLaughlin in a four-way preliminary to reach the final.
The Lynn and Woburn preliminaries reflect what was an unusually rocky election season for mayoral incumbents, at least five of whom fin ished second to challengers. Former Haverhill mayor William H. Ryan sees the recession as a factor, noting that - fairly or unfairly - voters upset with their economic condition will often take it out on the sitting mayor.
“They are mad and this is their only opportunity they have to lash out. It’s not necessarily anything you’ve done locally. You just happened to be the person on the ballot,’’ said Ryan, currently a city councilor.
The Lawrence mayor’s race could result in the state’s first popularly elected Latino mayor. Six Latinos competed in a 10-way preliminary to fill Lawrence’s open mayor’s seat, and one - state Representative William Lantigua - was the top vote-getter. Lantigua and City Councilor David Abdoo are competing in the final.
In Newburyport, Councilor at large Donna D. Holaday and Ward 3 Councilor James G. Shanley are vying to succeed retiring Mayor John Moak. Both Holaday, who lost to Moak in 2005, and Shanley, the council president, are relatively well-known candidates in a competitive race.
Should Holaday or Kennedy win, they would join a growing list of women mayors in the region. In the last two decades, nine women have won the office, including current mayors Kimberley Driscoll of Salem and Carolyn Kirk of Gloucester. Statewide, there are currently eight elected women mayors.
“Voters are becoming less gender aware in terms of biases,’’ Sheila Capone-Wulsin, executive director of the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus, said of the growing number of women earning mayor’s seats. “I think they are looking at the candidate’s skills and experience much more.’’
She said the fact that more women are running for office and more women are voting are also factors that improve the prospects for women seeking public office.
In other mayoral races, Haverhill Mayor James J. Fiorentini is battling with former city councilor John A. Michitson in his bid for a fourth term.
Amesbury incumbent Thatcher W. Kezer III faces opposition from former municipal councilor Alison M. Lindstrom, whom he defeated in 2007.
Beverly Mayor William F. Scanlon Jr. is opposed by City Councilor John J. Burke, while Methuen Mayor William M. Manzi III is squaring off against Al DiNuccio, a former member of the Community Development Board.
Peabody Mayor Michael J. Bonfanti faces a challenge from Russell P. Donovan, who lost two previous bids for city councilor and whose son, Shawn Donovan, ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2007.
Salem Mayor Kimberley L. Driscoll faces Kenneth A. Sawicki, who lost two previous bids for City Council.
Gloucester’s mayoral race took an unexpected turn when City Councilor Sharon George, who finished second to Kirk in the preliminary, recently dropped her candidacy. Third-place preliminary finisher Dan Ruberti is now running a write-in bid against Kirk in the final.
Unopposed for reelection are mayors Carlo DeMaria Jr. of Everett, Michael J. McGlynn of Medford, and Joseph A. Curtatone of Somerville.
Mayors Richard C. Howard of Malden, Robert J. Dolan of Melrose, and Thomas G. Ambrosino of Revere are in the middle of four-year terms.
Winthrop’s election lineup includes a three-way race to succeed retiring Town Council president Thomas E. Reilly.
Running for the post are former selectwoman Susan R. Bolster; Barbara A. Survilas, who ran for council president in 2005; and Jeffrey R. Turco, who is making his first bid for municipal office.
