For some candidates, a chance at history

(Correction: Because of an editing error, a list of contributors to a story in yesterday's City & Region section about mayoral elections in the Boston area misspelled the name of Katheleen Conti of the Globe staff.)

Lawrence Mayor Michael J. Sullivan yesterday handily defeated challenger Marcos Devers, who sought to become the first elected Latino mayor in Massachusetts history.

In New Bedford, however, a veteran mayor was trounced: four-term incumbent Frederick Kalisz Jr. lost to political newcomer Scott Lang, a former prosecutor who campaigned on taking back the streets of the hardscrabble city, where crime has reached record levels.

And in Salem, voters elected the first female mayor in the town's history, Kim Driscoll.

''They were willing to vote for somebody who didn't have the good fortune to be born here, who at one point didn't have the most money in the bank, who didn't have citywide name recognition, who sometimes wears a skirt," a beaming Driscoll told celebrating supporters.

On an election day with generally tepid turnout and no overriding statewide issues, local issues and local candidates yesterday defined the outcomes in the 39 mayoral jobs up for grabs around the state, 27 of them contested. In Brockton, labor union issues figured prominently. In Salem, taxes were key. In New Bedford, crime loomed large. The Newton race centered on school construction. And in Lawrence, ethnicity, though rarely explicitly mentioned, seemed to color the entire mayoral campaign.

Incumbents generally fared well, but there were exceptions, notably in New Bedford.

Lang, 55, won 67 percent of votes while Kalisz garnered just 33 percent. The city's police union staged a series of noisy protests against Kalisz, 48, during the campaign.

''Crime is certainly an issue; it was one of the leading issues in the campaign," said Jim Mathes, president of the New Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce. ''There's been a lot of incidents of violence, in particular gun violence in the last few years. There just seems to be, in certain areas of the city, a dangerous element that's been extremely hard for our public safety officials to be able to root it out."

In Lawrence, where Latinos make up a majority of the 72,000 people, Devers, a Democrat, generated much attention in his quest to become the first elected Latino mayor in the Commonwealth, but the candidate focused on pocketbook issues.

The Dominican-born Devers spoke English, his second language, during many public appearances. He said last night he had no regrets about his campaign and believed he brought up many issues.

''I'm still going to be involved in the community," said Devers.

Republican Sullivan, meanwhile, targeted Latino voters by hiring Latino staffers and advertising in Spanish-language newspapers. With about 10,000 voters turning out, Sullivan won 61 percent of the vote, while Devers got 39 percent.

''The next four years will be critical for the future of this city," said Sullivan, 48, last night. ''This win was a win for everyone."

The run-up to the election had been filled with accusations of voting irregularities. But Rafael Tejeda, the city's bilingual election coordinator, said last night that no major voting problems had been reported.

In Salem, three-term incumbent mayor Stanley Usovicz Jr. was knocked out in a September preliminary election, shocking local political observers. Driscoll had resigned as Chelsea's deputy city manager to run in Salem. Yesterday, she got 7,344 votes, while her opponent Kevin Harvey got 4,249.

''We've had the good old boys in here for a long time; it's time for some fresh blood," said Elaine Heredeen, a Driscoll supporter.

Another surprise unfolded in Everett. On his third try, City Clerk John Hanlon, 70, unseated Mayor David Ragucci by a slim margin of 247 votes, according to city election officials.

While Ragucci focused his campaign on his accomplishments during four terms, Hanlon accused Ragucci of mishandling city money and promised he would call for an independent audit of the city if elected. Earlier this year, the state auditor's office found that about $1.2 million in funds were mismanaged in the School Department.

Elsewhere, incumbents and experienced politicians did well. Brockton City Council President James E. Harrington, with 16 years on the council, defeated political newcomer Jass Stewart, an openly gay man who was the first African-American to run for mayor in the city's history. In unofficial returns last night, Harrington won 56 percent to Stewart's 44 percent.

Last night, Harrington vowed to unify the city after a hard-fought campaign held amid labor strife involving the city's firefighters union. ''I am looking forward to bringing people together," he said in an interview. ''We don't need to be divided into groups and neighborhoods."

And in Newton, voters sent Mayor David B. Cohen sailing into his third four-year term, giving him 59 percent of the nearly 15,500 votes cast against challenger Michael Striar.

''I'm very gratified that voters have returned me with this margin, and I view that as a vote of confidence on their part," Cohen said last night.

Cohen, who spent 19 years on Beacon Hill as a state representative before being elected mayor in 1997, said one of his main goals is to help lead the city in several building and renovation projects, not the least of which is a new $104.5 million Newton North High School.

Kathleen Conti of the Globe staff contributed to this report from Everett, Steven Rosenberg from Salem, and Matt Viser from Newton. Globe correspondents Robert Preer in Brockton and Emma Stickgold in Boston contributed. Material from the Associated Press was also used.