Marlborough, Massachusetts 2011 Elections Heat Up as Arthur Vigeant Considers a Run for Mayor

The last few Mayor races have been rather unexciting in this Massachusetts city. Not since Nancy Stevens challenged Mayor Hunt in 2005 has there been a real contested contest for the office of Mayor in Marlborough. Arthur Vigeant's announcement has created some buzz about the 2011 elections.

Nancy Stevens has not officially announced she is running. Mr. Vigeant could be a challenging opponent. Other than her race against Hunt, she has not had an opponent with Vigeant's backing and current political support in place. Many have expressed curiosity if the Mayor is waiting for other offers before announcing her decision to run.

Jim Mosso has also announced his decision to run for Mayor. If Mayor Stevens and Mr. Vigeant choose to run, he will face a primary and that could be an expensive undertaking for a political newcomer. He could choose to run as an independent candidate. That eliminates funding and opportunities to acquire support for his candidacy. This could prove a challenge difficult to overcome in the final election. I suspect his challenge is likely not to prove a difficult one for the current Mayor or Vigeant to overcome in their desire to become Mayor. He may want to launch an effort at Council. It appears to be the training ground for Marlborough's Mayors.

Mayor Stevens has her challenges if she chooses to pursue another term. However, Vigeant is not a guaranteed candidate if he runs either. Both will need to court the support of their fellow counselors. In the past, the Mayor has had the support of most if not all of the City Councilors in her elections. This support has crossed political lines. If she and Vigeant both choose to run, this could split City Council support for the candidates.

Vigeant has had citizen support for his fiscally conservative policies towards taxes and spending. His vote to accept the state's hotel taxes to provide money for the Marlborough Economic Development Corporation was not popular among local fiscal conservatives. However, the Mayor does not have clean hands here either. Perhaps Mosso could exploit this issue against both of them. It is an inconsistency that will be more troubling for Vigeant than the Mayor should she run.

With Steven Levy taking Danielle Gregoire's seat at the State House and Vigeant running for Mayor, this also means an interesting City Council race for the Councilor At Large seats. For the first time in a while, there will be two open uncontested seats. This could be a very entertaining election season in Marlborough. It will be interesting to watch who emerges as candidates over the next few months. Residents are going to have some important choices to make in the next election.

Paul Crocetti, " Marlborough Hotel Tax Could Raise 450K " ,MetroWest Daily News

Paul Crocetti, "Marlborough Man Starts Mayoral Run",MetroWest Daily News