More candidates are joining the 2021 race to be on the New Bedford City Council. The candidates are also raising money – well, most of the candidates are raising money.
It comes as no surprise that most of the candidates are looking to get elected to an at-large seat given the upcoming retirement of Deb Coelho from the council. An open seat among the five at-large seats is a rare occurrence. An open seat is even rarer than an incumbent at-large councilor losing re-election.
The three most active non-incumbents so far are Matthew Keefer, Jason Mello, and Lisa White. They have been doing outreach to the public and they have been raising campaign funds, which you can see in the list at the bottom of this article.
It is election season in many Massachusetts cities and towns. The smart candidates have started early because COVID-19 is making retail politics more difficult.
The political scene in New Bedford continues to change and the number of candidates continues to expand. This is going to be an exciting election year.
The retirement of longtime city councilor Deb Coelho has created an opportunity for change. There will be a new councilor after the 2021 election is decided. Anyone who has ever considered running for office in the Whaling City is looking at this opportunity because it is so rare.
Jason Mello has recently established a campaign with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance to run for an at-large seat on the council. He has also become active on social media promoting his campaign and now he is in a position to raise important financial resources for his citywide effort. Mello is well known and well-liked in the city he wants to help govern.
Who Will Be the Next New Bedford City Councilor? [OPINION]
There will be a new New Bedford at-large city council member elected next year. Longtime councilor Debora Coelho is retiring and that means a new councilor in 2021.
In 2019, Mayor Jon Mitchell was overwhelmingly re-elected. He was also the first mayor of New Bedford elected to a four-year term. A ballot question to change the mayor s term from two years to four years was overwhelmingly approved by the voters in 2017. The change in term length means the city will not have an election in 2021 for mayor.
Without a race for mayor, the 2021 election had the potential to be an afterthought.