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The campaign between Clancy and Kennedy (left) was intensely partisan. |
Lynn mayor may seek an election recount after loss by 27 votes
LYNN - Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. says he is still deciding whether he will seek a recount over his 27-vote loss to Judith Flanagan Kennedy in Tuesday’s general election, one of the closest finishes among Bay State mayoral contests.
“I haven’t decided,’’ Clancy, an 8-year incumbent, said Wednesday afternoon. “It’s not a lot of votes, and it’s a pretty accurate system. But we’ll see.’’
Clancy said he will decide soon, after consulting with campaign staff and a lawyer who specializes in election law.
Kennedy, a 10-year councilor at large, defeated Clancy 8,043 votes to 8,016. She received 49.94 percent of the vote, while Clancy received 49.78 percent, according to election results released by the city clerk’s office Tuesday night.
Given the razor-thin margin, Lynn election officials think Clancy will file for a recount.
“In a race this close, you would expect it,’’ City Clerk Mary Audley said yesterday. “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 who is 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.
On election night, she told the Globe she expected a recount. “I would think with a 27 vote difference, there would be a recount.’’
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.’’
Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com 
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
