New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Last night’s New Bedford municipal election saw a 25.1% voter turnout and an 11.3% increase in the number of voters compared to 2015. Yesterday, 14,098 voted compared to 12,466 in 2015, an increase of 1,631 votes. Full results can be see here.
The most significant vote was for mayor. Jon Mitchell won his fourth consecutive election defeating Charlie Perry by 2,875 votes – 8,371 to 5,496. Percentage wise that’s 60% to 39%. It’s a significant victory, considering the increase of votes was 1,631 over 2015 and Mitchell won by 2,875 votes.
in 2015, there were 54,726 registered voters – 12,466 turned out to vote that translates into a 22.78% voter turnout. In 2017, there were 56,213 registered voters translating into a 25.1% turnout.
New Bedford should be happy that more residents showed up to vote, but yesterday does show voter apathy continuing to be a problem. With a city of 100,000 people, roughly 14% of the city, or 1/4 of the registered voters, are deciding New Bedford’s future.
