Higgins ekes out win over Bardsley
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NORTHAMPTON - City voters re-elected Mayor Clare Higgins to a sixth term Tuesday, edging out challenger Michael R. Bardsley in the most competitive race of her mayoral career.
The re-election means Higgins, 54, the city's 43rd mayor and only the second woman to hold the office, joins David B. Musante, as one of the two longest-serving mayors in city history.
In beating Bardsley by a 51.1 percent to 47.6 percent margin, Higgins reversed the results of a September primary six weeks ago in which Bardsley came out on top by a 475-vote margin.
Higgins captured four of the city's seven wards - including wards 1, 2, 4, and 5 - en route to a 344-vote citywide victory. The mayor received 5,034 votes to Bardsley's 4,690. Nearly 51 percent, or 9,842, of the city's registered voters cast ballots.
As she greeted many of the 100-plus people gathered at City Hall to hear the election results, Higgins said she was pleased with the outcome, noting that she expected a close race. In the end, the mayor believes the 14 debates in the month of October made the biggest difference in the campaign - and turned the tide her way.
"I talked about my record," she said.
Higgins was greeted by a jubilant crowd of about 200 later at a party at the Paradise City Tavern, where supporters cheered "Higgins, Higgins, Higgins" as she walked in the door.
"This was an opportunity to get a message out about the work I've been doing for the last 10 years and haven't really been tooting my own horn about," she said. "Thank you for helping me get that word out."
She also gave a nod to what's ahead. "Now we have a lot of hard work to do in the next couple of years ... onward and upward," said Higgins.
'Uphill fight' for Bardsley
Bardsley, 60, a 16-year city councilor, conceded the race before the final numbers were posted on the charts in City Hall, and later mingled with supporters at the Northampton Brewery. He was greeted by Robert W. Aronson, of Sylvester Road, who said of the results, "Hardly a mandate, but still a defeat."
Shortly after a crowd chanted "Bardsley! Bardsley!" at the Brewery, Bardsley took questions from the press.
"I knew it was going to be an uphill fight from the beginning," he said. "She had a lot of influential people behind her. I knew pulling in all that influence, it was going to be tough for us. I think that weighs heavily with voters."
Bardsley believes the election hinged on the last few days of the campaign.
"In the last days, I think the newspaper endorsements made an impact, and the lieutenant governor and governor coming in towards the end," said Bardsley, noting that he was "running against the establishment."
Bardsley said he does not know what impact the election will have on how Higgins governs in a new term, but said, "I think this election raised a lot of issues. More issues than have been raised in the past. First and foremost was the landfill expansion."
Bardsley's quest to become mayor spiced up this fall's election season and easily provided Higgins with her most serious challenge since first winning office in 1999. No challenger had garnered more than 38.5 percent of the votes in that span.
The mayor ratcheted up her fund-raising to respond to the challenge, taking in some $39,200 through mid-October, compared to Bardsley's $19,500.
Voters' views
Many voters waffled in their decisions as they walked in to the polls.
Cameron Kauffman, 24, of Bradford Street, voting in his first municipal election Tuesday, cast his vote for Higgins. He said he had been trying to follow the mayoral election, including attending a debate, but noted, "I haven't been able to make much sense of it."
"I felt like I could have gone either way," said Kauffman, as he mounted a bicycle outside the Ward 1 polls and darted off into the night. "There's the devil you know and the devil you don't know."
There was nothing iffy about who Myra Berzoff was supporting when she stepped into a voter's booth Tuesday night at the Jackson Street School. Berzoff, 89, said she felt very strongly that Higgins was doing an exceptional job running city government.
"She seems to be everywhere she's supposed to be and doing everything she's supposed to do, and if it ain't broken, don't fix it," Berzoff said.
Earlier in the day, Marci Couchon, 83, said she was influenced to vote for Higgins after appearances by both candidates on a local morning radio show.
"I read and did a lot of comparing, but I still think she's the better of the two," she said.
Other Higgins supporters lauded the mayor for her keen understanding of the political and financial realities Northampton faces, while others cited increasing financial burdens as the reason they wanted see a change in the mayor's post.
"I just think it's time for it," said Mara Michelman, of Terrace Lane as she left the Ward 1 polls.
Peter Volpe, of Finn Street, said he was undecided up to the moment he voted, but ultimately cast his vote for Bardsley. In his view, city leaders have not done enough to bring in new business and ease the residential tax burden.
Out in Ward 7, Karen Jasper voted for Bardsley because she's found the mayor unresponsive on several occasions since moving here.
"I just don't think that the city is running efficiently," she said.
Another resident countered that Higgins is open with residents.
"I like Mayor Higgins' policies and her transparency with the departments," said David Gagne, 52, of Old Wilson Road.
Kathy Keough, of Grove Street, said she was supporting Bardsley in the hopes that he might help do something about the rising cost of living in Northampton.
"Personally, I'm just frustrated that it costs more and more to live here," Keough said. "I just feel like my taxes keep going up."
While she declined to say who she voted for, Ward 7 resident Peggy Winnett said she found it difficult to find issues where they took different approaches. That left her as one of the prized undecided voters who determined the race. In the end, she said, "I came away with the feeling that I'd be satisfied with whoever turns out to be mayor."
