2007 Worcester, Massachusetts mayoral election
The 2007 Worcester, Massachusetts mayoral election was held on November 6, 2007. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Konstantina B. Lukes, who had been appointed to the position earlier that year after Tim Murray resigned to become Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.
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Lukes became the city's first elected female mayor as a result of this election.[2]
Election system
In order to be elected mayor in Worcester, a person must place first in the mayor's race and also finish among the top six in the at-large city council election, being also elected a councilor at large. An individual cannot be elected mayor without additionally winning at at-large city council seat.[3][4]
In addition, the candidate elected to the office of councilor at large who receives the second-highest number of votes for the office of mayor will become vice-chair of the Worcester City Council.[4]
Candidates
- William Coleman, III,[5] community activist[6] candidate for mayor in 1993, 2001, 2003, and 2005[7][8][9][10]
- Konstantina Lukes,[5] incumbent mayor, Worcester City Council at-large member since 1990, mayoral candidate in 1999 and 2005[11][9]
- Gary Rosen, Worcester City Council at-large member since 2006 and 1996–97, former five-term Worcester School Committee member[12]
- Frederick C. Rushton, Worcester City Council member[13] and attorney
Campaign
Lukes saw two strong challengers, Rushton and Rosen.[14]
Rather than issues, the election largely focused on the personality and the leadership style of Lukes.[14]
Lukes and Rushton were the best-funded candidates.[16] Lukes managed to raise $31,381 for her campaign.[14] Rushton managed to raise $80,000 for his campaign.[14]
Despite the fact that Lukes identified as a Democrat, the city's Democratic Party leaders sought to unseat her.[14] They hoped to coalesce opposition to Lukes behind a single candidate, and ultimately Rushton became their candidate.[14] Rushton would ultimately receive most of the endorsements from major Democratic politicians in the region.[14] Rushton's brother-in-law, Worcester County's new District Attorney Joseph D. Early, appeared at campaign events for him, marking the first time in decades that a District Attorney had involved himself in a political campaign.[17]
There was an unusually large field of candidates running to be at-large city councilors in 2007.[14] This field large large enough that a primary was mandated for the at-large city council election, which was held in mid-September.[14][15] Due to the laws requiring that a mayor also be elected an at-large city councilor, anyone who wanted to compete in the mayoral race (whether they had announced yet or not) would need to be on the ballot in the at-large City Council primary and advance to the at-large City Council general election if they hoped to be elected mayor.[14] While it was not at all required that mayoral candidates declare their candidacies before the at-large City Council primary, four candidates already had declared their candidates.[14][15] After the at-large City Council primary, in which Lukes placed second among all candidates, and Rushton placed third, two of the candidates, dropped-out of the mayoral race.[14][15] These were Dennis L. Irish and Mike C. Perotto, who had respectively placed fifth and eighth out of all candidates in the at-large City Council primary.[15] This bolstered the Democratic Party's hopes of coalescing opposition to Lukes around a single candidate, which had emerged to Rushton.[14]
Rosen declared his candidacy after the at-large City Council primary,[14] in which he had placed first.[15] Rosen's entrance into the race posed an obstacle to the Democratic Party leadership's hopes of coalescing opposition to Lukes behind a single candidate.[14]
As of early October, Lukes and Rushton were the only two candidates with campaign websites.[16]
Finances
| Candidate | Receipts[18] | Expenditures[18] |
|---|---|---|
| William Coleman III | $854.72 | $839.52 |
| Konstantina Lukes | $31,381.00 | $25,406.41 |
| Gary Rosen | $14,631.00 | $15,148.94 |
| Frederick C. Rushton | $78,668.99 | $83,589.73 |
| Total | $125,535.71 | $124,984.60 |
Results
The result was narrow enough that a hand-recount was conducted.[5] In the end, only 116 votes separated Lukes and Rushton.[3][5] As of 2019, this was the narrowest margin of victory in a Worcester mayoral election since the city started popularly electing its mayors in 1987.[3]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Konstantina B. Lukes (incumbent) | 7,507 | 36.15% | |
| Nonpartisan | Frederick C. Rushton | 7,391 | 35.59% | |
| Nonpartisan | Gary Rosen | 4,552 | 21.92% | |
| Nonpartisan | William Coleman, III | 1,318 | 6.35% | |
| Total votes | 20,768 | |||
Lukes finished second in the at-large city council election.[5] Rosen finished first, Rushton finished fourth, and Coleman finished twelfth.[5] Rushton, by the rules of the city charter, became the vice-chair of the Worcester City Council.
References
- "Election Results | City of Worcester, MA". Worcester, Massachusetts. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
- Kotsopoulos, Nick (May 1, 2019). "Konstantina Lukes will not seek re-election to City Council". telegram.com. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
- Kotsopoulos, Nick (September 21, 2019). "Politics and the City: And they're off and running for Worcester mayor". telegram.com. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
- "Ordinances & Regulations | City of Worcester, MA". www.worcesterma.gov. Worcester. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- "WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS STATEMENT OF VOTES CAST MUNICIPAL ELECTION WORCESTER MASSACHUSETTS" (PDF). Worcester, Massachusetts. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
- "Worcester Candidate Profile: Bill Coleman For Mayor". Patch. October 24, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
- "WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS ELECTION SUMMARY MUNICIPAL ELECTION WORCESTER MASSACHUSETTS" (PDF). Worcester, Massachusetts. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
- "WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS STATEMENT OF VOTES CAST MUNICIPAL ELECTION WORCESTER MASSACHUSETTS" (PDF). Worcester, Massachusetts. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
- "WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS ELECTION SUMMARY MUNICIPAL ELECTION WORCESTER MASSACHUSETTS" (PDF). Worcester, Massachusetts. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
- "WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS STATEMENT OF VOTES CAST MUNICIPAL ELECTION WORCESTER MASSACHUSETTS" (PDF). Worcester, Massachusetts. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
- "WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS STATEMENT OF VOTES CAST MUNICIPAL ELECTION WORCESTER MASSACHUSETTS" (PDF). Worcester, Massachusetts. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
- Kotsopoulos, Nick (March 5, 2017). "Gary Rosen setting sights on at-large Worcester City Council seat". telegram.com.
- "CITY OF WORCESTER CITY CLERK DEPARTMENT JOURNAL OF THE CITY COUNCIL – MARCH 14, 2006 7:00 P.M." City of Worcester. March 14, 2006. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
- Atkins, Hannah; Boatright, Robert; Cansever, Baran; Chaudari, Noreena; Cohen, Stefan; Gerhardson, Sasha; Gregoire, Amanda; Kahale, Joelle; Monterio, Jarett; Oldenburg, Colin; Schofield, Emily; Smith, Connor; Tripp, Charles. "Campaign Finance in Municipal Elections: The 2009 Worcester City Council Candidates" (PDF). Clark University. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
- Nangle, Richard (September 12, 2007). "Rosen, Lukes are the top two finishers". telegram.com. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
- Nangle, Richard (October 1, 2007). "Lukes, Rushton take campaigns to the Internet". telegram.com. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
- Sutner, Shaun (June 3, 2007). "Early Returns Are Generally Good New DA Gets Plaudits Some Criticism, by Shaun Sutner, Telegram & Gazette [Worcester], June 3, 2007". Telegram.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- "Mayoral Activity 2007" (PDF). Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Retrieved April 25, 2020.