Election 2005 -- First Up -- The Mayor's Race

The first . . . and most important . . . race that we'll look at is the race for Mayor. Incumbent David Ragucci is facing one, and possibly two, challengers in City Clerk John Hanlon and Ward Three Alderman Michael Marchese.

Mayor Ragucci will be running for his fifth term as Mayor, and he's not faced an election cycle without opposition since he soundly defeated John McCarthy in 1997. He faced McCarthy again in 1999 and John Hanlon in 2001 and 2003. The course of the Mayor's administration has not run smoothly, and over the past year he has had to deal with (what people perceive as) a higher than expected tax increase, an ongoing battle with the School Committee and the Superintendent, a hostile City Council, and some missteps in the Administration that have caused the Mayor and his staff to, at times, be on the defensive. He has also seen, however, the final approval come through for the new high school, to be built on the Terraces at Glendale Park, as well as plans for a new park at the old GE site and the sale of the old city yards. Mayor Ragucci faces an uphill battle for re-election this year, and he'll need to take a more proactive stance in dealing with issues if he is to be successful. This can be difficult for an incumbent of long standing, and Ragucci will need people around him who are willing to tell him some hard truths if he's going to pull this one off.

It looks like John Hanlon will be taking his third shot at unseating Ragucci. The last two contests between Hanlon and the Mayor have been close, and it could be Hanlon is hoping that "third time's a charm." Ragucci, of course, is hoping that it'll be "three strikes, you're out." Hanlon's age is certainly an issue (he's nearly 70 years old), his performance on the Board of Aldermen (for those of us who can remember him on the Board of Aldermen) was unremarkable, and his tenure as City Clerk has received mixed reviews, depending on what side of the political fence you sit. He is surrounded by an "older crowd" in his campaigns, which makes one wonder what type of staff he would bring to City Hall should he be elected. His last campaign was notable for it's negativity, but it was short on highlighting any of his own accomplishments.

A new twist in this year's race is the possible addition of a third candidate -- Ward Three Alderman Mike Marchese. Marchese inserting himself into this race is being seen by some as a desire to be a "spoiler" -- to shake things up and attempt to weaken the Mayor's re-election bid by drawing votes away from him. Marchese has made his contempt for the Administration known, but he does not have a serious desire to be Mayor. This could cause a problem for Ragucci if Marchese pulls enough votes away from him in the primary, causing Ragucci to run second to Hanlon and then scrambling to make up ground in the general election in November. Shades of John McCarthy 1997 when Barry Erickson shook things up, giving Ragucci the edge over McCarthy in the primary and a strong victory in November.