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Losing candidate mulls recount in Lynn mayoral race

E-mail|Link|Comments () November 4, 2009 04:33 PM

By Kathy McCabe, Globe Staff

LYNN -- Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. said today he is still deciding whether to seek a recount over his 27-vote loss to challenger Judith Flanagan Kennedy in Tuesday's general election, one of the closest finishes among Bay State mayoral contests.

"I haven't decided," Clancy, an eight-year incumbent, said this afternoon. "It's not a lot of votes, and it's a pretty accurate system. But we'll see."

Clancy, a former Democratic state senator and representative from Lynn, said he is proud of his campaign. "We worked very hard," said Clancy, 59, who spent much of Election Day knocking on doors asking people for their vote. "I don't think there is anything we could have done differently."

Clancy said he will make a decision soon, after consulting with campaign staff and a lawyer specializing in election law.

Kennedy, a 10-year councilor at large, defeated Clancy by a vote of 8,043 to 8,016. She received 49.94 percent of the vote, while Clancy received 49.78 percent of the vote, according to election results released by the city clerk's office Tuesday night.

Given the razor-thin margin, Lynn election officials expect Clancy will file for a recount. "In a race this close, you would expect it," City Clerk Mary Audley said Wednesday. "But I haven't been notified yet."

Under state election law, a candidate has 10 days to file for a recount with a city or town clerk. A minimum of 10 signatures of registered voters from each precinct is required for votes to be recounted in that precinct. Lynn has 28 precincts. The deadline to file for a recount is Nov. 13, Audley said.

Voter turnout was 33.1 percent, with 16,320 of the city's 49,346 registered voters heading to the polls.
Kennedy, 47, is the first woman elected mayor of Lynn, the state's ninth largest city with almost 90,000 residents. A lawyer no longer practicing, she works part-time as a driver for the MBTA Ride program. In the September preliminary, she ran as a write-in candidate, beating Clancy by 211 votes. Kennedy launched her candidacy after the sudden death in July of former Mayor Patrick J. McManus, who was running to regain the seat he vacated in 2002.

Kennedy could not be reached today. But on Tuesday night she told the Globe she expected a recount. "I would think with a 27 vote difference, there would be a recount," she said.

The campaign between Clancy and Kennedy was intensely partisan. Clancy touted his long ties to the Democratic party, including an endorsement by Senate President Therese Murray, his former Beacon Hill colleague. Kennedy, a Republican, drew strong support from public employee unions, particularly Lynn Firefighters 739 with whom Clancy had waged long battles over staffing and funding.

The final days of the race grew increasingly heated. Kennedy's campaign manager, Dennis M. Liberge, was forced to resign after the candidate became aware of his conviction on federal drug charges 17 years ago in Maine. Kennedy also asked Lynn police to investigate whether the Clancy campaign violated state election law by attaching a copy of her signature to a flier. The Essex County District attorney's office ruled Tuesday that there was no violation.

Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com