Fall River's 2023 election begins to take shape, with a former mayor wanting his job back

FALL RIVER — Like opening day at the horse races, several potential candidates sped out of the gates to take out nomination papers bright and early Tuesday morning, and within two hours there were four possible mayoral candidates for the September preliminary and November citywide elections.

Former Fall River mayor and Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter hadn’t made it a secret that he intended to take on incumbent Mayor Paul Coogan. By 8:10 a.m., he was filling out the required paperwork in the Board of Elections office.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this,” said Sutter, who was mayor in 2015. “I felt like I was just getting started.”

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Coogan arrived not long after Sutter exited Government Center to take out nomination papers for his bid to win a third term in the mayor’s office.

“We look forward to campaigning. We’re very active in the community and plan to continue,” said Coogan.

A candidate for mayor in the 2021 September preliminary election, Michael Vandal, may be taking another shot for the position. Vandal garnered 50 votes in that three-way race along with Coogan and then City Council President Cliff Ponte.

Jordan Silvia, who ran for public office in 2015 and 2017 for mayor, took out nomination papers for both mayor and City Council, but is only allowed to run in one race.

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It wasn't circling around in the Fall River political rumor mill, but former state representative and head of the Fall River Housing Authority David Sullivan reportedly took out papers for a City Council run. Sullivan served in the Statehouse from 1997 to 2019.

Incumbent Linda Pereira has also decided to return for another term as councilor, taking out her nomination papers on Tuesday.

School Committee member and former city councilor Paul Hart also entered the doors of the election office shortly after opening and took out papers for his bid for a seat on the City Council.

A School Committee member who served over a decade ago, Robert Pearson was another potential candidate for the City Council.

Charles Chase will likely give it a second try to serve on the School Committee. Chase ran unsuccessfully in the 2021 citywide election for the school board.

First to take out papers for the upcoming preliminary city race was Collin Dias for a place on the School Committee. Dias ran unsuccessfully for that board in the 2021 election.

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It is too early to make any predictions on the upcoming city races, with a long process for candidates to get on the ballot.

Residents thinking about running for elected office in the city have until June 26 at 5 p.m. to take out nomination papers. The deadline to submit signatures for certification of the nomination papers at the Board of Election is June 28 at 5 p.m. Then candidates have until July 18 at 5 p.m. to file their certified papers with the City Clerk.

City Council and School Committee hopefuls need to collect 150 signatures from certified registered voters; those looking to run for mayor must collect 300 certified signatures.

Sutter and Coogan have one thing in common

Coogan and Sutter are both experienced in running campaigns, with the current mayor a former School Committee member and Sutter the former Bristol County DA from 2007 to 2014.

But the two men have one distinctive experience in common: they both beat out recalled incumbent mayors in a city that has become known for its unique political atmosphere in the past few years.

Sutter was a successful district attorney who prosecuted the major murder trial of New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez, when he decided to challenge former Mayor Will Flanagan in the December 2014 election. Flanagan, a third-term mayor, was battling an aggressive recall campaign against him that year. Sutter easily defeated Flanagan in the popular vote by 70%.

Sutter got just one year in the mayor’s office when, in 2015, he was challenged by then 23-year-old up-and-coming first-term City Councilor Jasiel Correia II, who defeated Sutter.

During his two terms in office, Correia was indicted twice on federal charges of fraud and extortion, and another recall election was waged. Coogan was one of four candidates challenging Correia in the March 2019 recall election, but bizarrely voters recalled the indicted mayor, but re-elected him as challengers split the opposing vote.

Coogan challenged Correia again, but this time tromped the embattled mayor in both the 2019 preliminary and general elections. Correia is currently serving a six-year sentence in federal prison.

Sutter lags in campaign funds

Raising money in a contested political race takes money, and a look at the finance reports of Coogan and Sutter show the latter has some fundraising catching up to do.

A check of the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance website shows that, as of March 31, Coogan had $70,262 in his campaign account with Sutter reporting $13,014.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Fall River election 2023 begins with Coogan, Sutter running for mayor