Beginning shortly after the city's incorporation as a city in 1846, elections have been held in the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Hamp ...

. The following article provides information on the elections for mayor in the city during the 20th century.

Election laws and history

The city of Manchester, New Hampshire, held its first mayoral election in

1846 Events January–March * January 5 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Country with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. * January 13 – The Milan–Venice railway' ...

. Throughout the 20th century, and still today, regularly-scheduled elections are for two-year terms. This had been the case since the 1880 election. The city's mayoral elections are currently are nonpartisan, a change which was adopted before the 1997 election. While, prior to 1997, elections had long been partisan, there had been stretches previous to 1999 in which the city's mayoral elections had been nonpartisan, including the stretch of four elections held from 1953 through 1959.

1902

The 1902 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held to elect the

. It saw the election of Democratic candidate

Eugene Elliott Reed Eugene Elliott Reed (April 23, 1866 –December 15, 1940) was a U.S. Representative from New Hampshire. Biography Born in Manchester, Reed attended the public schools and received instruction from private tutors. He studied law, then engaged in ...

, who defeated

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate Walter M. Fulton, Independent Citizens candidate Murdock A. Weathers and Socialist candidate John E. Mansfield.

1904

The 1904 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held to elect the

. It saw the reelection of

, who defeated Charles J. Brygger and James E. Reed.

1906

The 1906 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held to elect the

. It saw the reelection of Democratic incumbent

to a third consecutive term. Reed defeated

candidate Charles E. Cox and Socialist candidate Samuel F. Claflin.

1908

The 1908 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held to elect the

. It saw the reelection of Democratic incumbent

to a fourth consecutive term. Reed defeated

candidate Lloyd T. Mead, Socialist candidate John C. Paine, and

independent candidate An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

George W. Rief.

1910

The 1910 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held to elect the

. It saw the election of

Edward Clarke Smith Edward Clarke Smith (October 24, 1864 – August 25, 1926) was a pharmacist and Republican politician in the U.S. State of New Hampshire. He served as the mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire in 1911 and 1912. Early life and career Smith was ...

, who defeated James Sullivan.

1912

The 1912 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held to elect the

. It saw the election of Democratic candidate Charles C. Hayes, who defeated

candidate Victor W. Roy,

Progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

candidate Lloyd T. Mead, Socialist candidate William J. Ryan.

1914

The 1914 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on December 8, 1914, to elect the

. It saw the election of

Harry W. Spaulding Harry may refer to: TV shows *Harry (American TV series), ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin *Harry (British TV series), ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons *Harry ...

, who defeated Democratic incumbent Charles C. Hayes and Socialist candidate William J. Ryan. Sapulding won by a margin of 386 votes. The election was considered one of the most hotly contested elections in years. In the coinciding Board of

Aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

election, the Republican Party won full control of the board, winning seven of the board's nine seats.

1915

The 1915 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 2, 1915, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of

candidate

, who defeated Democratic candidate Charles C. Hayes (himself a former mayor) and Socialist candidate James E. Dorren. Spaulding's margin of victory was significantly greater than his margin of victory in the previous 1914 mayoral election. In the coinciding Board of

election, the Republican Party won ten of the thirteen seats on the board. Also, notably, the Republican incumbent was elected the city's overseer of the poor against a Democratic challenger in that office's coinciding election.

1917

The 1917 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 6, 1917, to elect the

. It saw the election of Democratic candidate Moise Verrette, who unseated

incumbent

. In the municipal elections held in the city on November 6, Democrats won overall control of the city's government for the first time in 42 years. Democrats nearly swept all of the city's elections, winning not just the mayoralty, but also control of all of the city's commissions and public service boards, as well as the offices of auditor, collector, city clerk, engineer, messenger, physician, sealer, solicitor, superintendent of buildings, treasurer, and weigher. Democrats also won numerous municipal clerkships.

1919

The 1919 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held to elect the

. It saw the reelection of Democratic incumbent Moise Verrette, who defeated Andrew B. Bunton.

Democratic primary

In the Democratic primary, held on October 23, 1921, incumbent mayor Moise Verrette won renomination over challenger Charles D. Ward by a large margin. More than 3,300 votes were cast in the primary.

General election

Democratic incumbent Moise Verrette defeated Andrew B. Bunton.

1921

The 1921 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 8, 1921, to elect the

. It saw the election of

nominee George E. Trudel, who defeated Democratic nominee John L. Barry by a roughly 4,000-vote margin. This was the first mayoral election in Manchester since the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which granted women suffrage across the entire United States. Consequently, it was first Manchester mayoral election in which women voted.

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary was held October 17, 1921.

Republican primary

George E. Trudel won the

primary, held on October 10, 1921. Trudel was a successful businessman and an incumbent member of the

Executive Council of New Hampshire The Executive Council of the State of New Hampshire (commonly known as the Governor's Council) is the executive body of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The Executive Council advises the Governor on all matters and provides a check on the governor ...

under

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Albert O. Brown Albert Oscar Brown (July 18, 1852March 28, 1937) was an American lawyer, banker, and Republican politician from Manchester, New Hampshire. Biography He was born on July 18, 1852, in Northwood, New Hampshire and graduated from Coe-Brown Northw ...

. Trudel had never before run for office. Among those he defeated in the primary was former mayor

General election

Republican nominee George E. Trudel, defeated Democratic nominee John L. Barry by a roughly 4,000-vote margin.

1923

The 1923 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 1, 1923, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of

incumbent George E. Trudel, who defeated Democratic challenger John L. Barry. The campaign was described by the Groton Times as one of the city's "most stirring" election campaigns in years. Democratic nominee John L. Barry was a former Manchester

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

, and had been Trudel's opponent in the previous 1921 election. While he again lost to Trudel, Barry did managed to cut Trudel's margin of victory by nearly half compared to the previous election. In the coinciding Board of Aldermen election, Republicans retained their control of the board. The Republicans also nearly swept the races for citywide offices, with the exception of charity commissioner (which saw a Democratic incumbent reelected).

1925

The 1925 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 3, 1925, to elect the

. It saw the election of

nominee Andrew E. Moreau, who defeated Democratic nominee Timothy F. Conner and

Adolph Wagner. In the coinciding Board of

election, Republicans retained their majority of the board, with Republicans winning eight seats and Democrats winning five.

Republican caucus

In the October 19

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

for the

nomination, Andrew E. Moreau, a member of the

New Hampshire Executive Council The Executive Council of the State of New Hampshire (commonly known as the Governor's Council) is the executive body of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The Executive Council advises the Governor on all matters and provides a check on the governor ...

, won the party's nomination over city

Adolph Wagner.

General election

Republican nominee Andrew E. Moreau defeated Democratic nominee Timothy F. Conner and

Adolph Wagner (the latter of whom had, before becoming an independent candidate, unsuccessfully run for the Republican nomination). Wagner won a strong plurality of the vote. Democratic nominee Conner was an attorney. The campaign was later described by the ''Groton Times'' as, "one of the most stirring" three-way races "in recent years". When it was a two-candidate campaign between Moreau and Conner, the general election had originally been seen as a likely victory for Moreau. However, upon the entrance of alderman Adolph Wagner as an independent candidate, the race began to be considered a tossup between Moreau and Conner.

1927

The 1927 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 8, 1927, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of

incumbent Andrew E. Moreau, who defeated state senator William G. McCarthy, the Democratic nominee. In the coinciding municipal elections, the Republican nominee won a surprise victory in the race for commissioner of charities, and the Republican Party also increased its majority on the Board of

by a single seat (now holding nine of the board's ten seats) by unseating a ten-year incumbent.

1929

The 1929 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 5, 1929, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of

incumbent Andrew E. Moreau to a third consecutive term. Moreau defeated Democratic nominee C. J. Belanger. In the city's coinciding Board of

election, the Republicans won nine of the board's thirteen seats, the same exact majority they had held before the election.

1931

The 1931 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 3, 1931, to elect the

. It saw the election of Democratic nominee

Damase Caron Damase is a personal name, the French-language counterpart of Damasus. Given name * Damase Boulanger, founder of the city of Alma, Quebec * Damase Bouvier (1929–1976), Canadian political figure *Damase Dufresne, Canadian politician * (1842–1 ...

, who unseated

incumbent

Arthur E. Moreau Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...

by a roughly 1,500-vote margin of victory. Caron's victory was viewed as a

landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the victorious candidate or party wins by an overwhelming margin. The term became popular in the 1800s to describe a victory in which the opposition is "buried", similar to the way in which a geol ...

. Caron was a local physician. Coinciding elections in the city, as well as much of the region, saw significant wins for Democrats, proving to be a regional

wave election Wave elections in the United States are elections in which a political party makes major gains. Based on the "red states and blue states" color coding convention since 2000, wave elections have often been described as either a "blue wave" if the De ...

. This included Democrats gaining the majority of the city's Board of

. Also, a coinciding

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

saw the voters approve limited hours of sports and amusements to take place on Sundays, partially rolling-back the city's

blue law Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws and Sunday closing laws, are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons ...

1933

The 1933 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 7, 1933, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of Democratic incumbent

, who defeated

nominee John Jacobson Jr. by a margin of 2,924 votes. On the eve of the election, the ''

Portsmouth Herald ''The Portsmouth Herald'' (and ''Seacoast Weekend'') is a six-day daily newspaper serving greater Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Its coverage area also includes the municipalities of Greenland, New Castle, Newington and Rye, New Hampshire; and E ...

'' described the campaign as having been "lively", and wrote that the result was expected to be very close. In the coinciding municipal elections, the Democratic Party won a majority of eleven of the thirteen seats on the city's Board of

(with Republicans winning the remaining two), and the Democratic incumbent commissioner of charities won reelection over their Republican opponent by a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

7,055 vote margin.

1935

The 1935 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 5, 1935, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of Democratic incumbent

to a third consecutive term. Caron defeated former

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

Joseph H. Geisel, the

nominee, by a margin of roughly 3,300 votes. This was considered a

. At the time, this margin of victory was the greatest any Democrat had ever won in a Manchester mayoral election. In the coinciding municipal elections, the Democratic Party won a majority of ten of the thirteen seats on the city's Board of

1937

The 1937 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 3, 1937, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of Democratic incumbent

to a fourth consecutive term. Caron defeated

nominee Gerard A. Hamel. He won by a vote margin even greater than his previous win, thus, setting a new record for the greatest margin of victory any Democrat had won in terms of vote numbers for a Manchester mayoral election. In the previous two years, Caron had helped lead the city through turbulent times, being credited with helping to diversify its economy with smaller industrial operations in the aftermath of the bankruptcy of the

Amoskeag Manufacturing Company The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company was a textile industry, textile manufacturer which founded Manchester, New Hampshire, United States. From modest beginnings it grew throughout the 19th century into the largest cotton textile plant in the world. ...

, a major employer in the city.

1939

The 1939 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 7, 1939, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of Democratic incumbent

to a fifth consecutive term. Caron defeated Caron defeated

nominee

Wilfred A. LaFlamme Wilfred may refer to: * Wilfred (given name), a given name and list of people (and fictional characters) with the name * Wilfred, Indiana, an unincorporated community in the United States * Wilfred (Australian TV series), ''Wilfred'' (Australian T ...

. Caron was the first mayor of the city to win a fifth consecutive term. Caron won by a 903-vote margin of victory, which was significantly smaller than the margins he had won his previous four elections by. In the initial vote count, Caron won by a 1,009 vote margin of victory. However, on November 22, the city's Board of

approved a petition by the Republican City Committee to

recount An election recount is a repeat tabulation of votes cast in an election that is used to determine the correctness of an initial count. Recounts will often take place if the initial vote tally during an election is extremely close. Election reco ...

the vote in the city's ninth ward, where a discrepancy had the mayoral vote totals exceed the number of ballots cast by 74. The results of this recount were announced on November 29, and saw Caron's margin of victory decreased to 903 votes.

1941

The 1941 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 4, 1941, to elect the

. It saw

nominee

unseat five-term Democratic incumbent

. The race was a rematch of the previous election. In the initial count, LaFlamme had a lead of 638 votes. After a

of the city's municipal elections was held, LaFlamme's final margin of victory over Caron was 618 votes.

1943

The 1943 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 2, 1943, to elect the

. It saw Democratic nominee

Josephat T. Benoit Josephat T. Benoit (March 3, 1900 – May 14, 1976) was a Canadian-born American journalist and politician who served as the 41st mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire, USA, from 1944 to 1961. A New Deal Democrat, he held that office for a record n ...

unseat first-term

incumbent

Wilfred A. Laflamme Wilfred may refer to: * Wilfred (given name), a given name and list of people (and fictional characters) with the name * Wilfred, Indiana, an unincorporated community in the United States * Wilfred (Australian TV series), ''Wilfred'' (Australian T ...

. Benoit won election by a 1,229 vote margin of victory. Benoit's win was considered an

upset victory An upset occurs in a competition, frequently in electoral politics or sports, when the party popularly expected to win (the "favorite"), either loses to or draws/ties a game with an underdog whom the majority expects to lose, defying the convent ...

. Before resigning to run for mayor, Benoit had been the editor of the local French language newspaper ''L'Avenir National''.

1945

The 1945 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 6, 1945, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of Democratic incumbent

, who defeated

nominee Leo F. Donnelly. Benoit won by a large margin. After the coinciding Board of

election, control of the board belonged to the Democrats. The election also coincided with a

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

election.

1947

The 1947 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 4, 1947, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of Democratic incumbent

to a third consecutive term. Benoit defeated

nominee Albert W. Hamel.

1949

The 1949 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 8, 1949, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of Democratic incumbent

to a fourth consecutive term. Benoit defeated

nominee Edward F. Fitzgerald. Election forecasters had correctly anticipated a Benoit victory. Republican nominee Fitzgerald had previously run unsuccessfully for New Hampshire Governor's Council in 1938.

1951

The 1951 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 6, 1951, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of Democratic incumbent

to a fifth consecutive term. Benoit defeated

nominee James L. Mahony. Election forecasters had anticipated an easy Benoit victory. However, he wound up only winning by a 664 margin. The election coincided with

, selectmen, and Board of

elections in the city.

1953

The 1953 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 3, 1953, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor

to a sixth consecutive term. Benoit defeated former

United States congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Alphonse Roy. Benoit was the first, and is so far the only, mayor in the city's history to win election to a sixth term. The election was the first election to be held under new rules which saw municipal elections become nonpartisan.

1955

The 1955 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 7, 1955, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor

to a seventh consecutive term. Benoit defeated James B. Sullivan and Clemens Martell. The election was formally nonpartisan.

1957

The 1957 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 5, 1957, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor

to an eighth consecutive term. Benoit defeated Peter Poirier. The election was officially nonpartisan.

1959

The 1959 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 3, 1959, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor

to a ninth consecutive term. Benoit's challenger,

John C. Mongan John C. Mongan (April 17, 1925 – June 20, 2013) was an American politician who was the mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire from 1962 until 1963, and again from 1968 until 1969. He was a Republican. Early life and career Mongan was born in Manc ...

, a telephone company executive, ran a serious campaign against to him. The election was officially nonpartisan.

1961

The 1961 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 7, 1961, to elect the

. It saw the election of

nominee

, who defeated Democratic nominee Roger E. Brassard. The election was the first to be run by new rules which saw the shift back to partisan municipal elections, after the past four mayoral elections had been nonpartisan. Mongan had earlier run in the previous 1959 mayoral election. Mongan's victory was a surprise

. At the time, the city was overwhelmingly Democratic-leaning (with Democrats being believed to outnumber Republicans by a 2–1 margin).

1963

The 1963 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 5, 1963, to elect the

. It saw the election of Democratic nominee

Roland S. Vallee Roland S. Vallee (November 13, 1929 – October 27, 1997) was an American politician who served as the 43rd mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire. Known as the "singing mayor," he served in that office as a Democrat from 1964-1967. Life and ...

, who defeated incumbent

mayor

. Vallee won by a roughly 2,200 vote margin.

1965

The 1965 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 3, 1965, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of Democratic incumbent

, who defeated

nominee Paul M. Martel. Vallee won by a 4,838 margin of victory.

1967

The 1967 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 8, 1967, to elect the

. It saw the election of

to a second nonconsecutive term, unseating incumbent two-term Democratic mayor

. Mongan's victory was regarded to be an upset. In the initial count, Mongan won by a merely 37 vote margin, and Vallee requested a

. After the recount, Mongan's margin of victory increased to 51 votes. Vallee conceded. After the recount, mayor-elect Mongan did admit that he believed that there had been balloting irregularities, but also stated the did not want to "burden the taypayers with the cost of another recount". Vallee's loss was attributed to allegations that he had manipulated lower

tax assessment Tax assessment, or assessment, is the job of determining the value, and sometimes determining the use, of property, usually to calculate a property tax. This is usually done by an office called the assessor or tax assessor. Governments need to ...

s on his own buildings. Mongan and Vallee had previously faced each other four years earlier in the 1963 mayoral race.

1969

The 1969 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 4, 1969, to elect the

. It saw the election of

Harry Pariseau, defeating Democratic nominee

(a former mayor of the city). Incumbent Republican mayor

had lost renomination to Pariseau in the Republican

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

Democratic primary

Former mayor Roland Vallee was the winner of a three-way race in a Democratic

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

in which 11,000 votes were cast.

Republican primary

Incumbent mayor

, who was serving his second nonconsecutive term, lost his attempt at renomination in the October 7

primary election to Harry Pariseau. Pariseau, a first-time candidate for elected office, was both a businessman and the city's fire commissioner, and had actually been Mongan's

campaign manager {{Political campaigning A campaign manager, campaign chairman, or campaign director is a paid or volunteer individual whose role is to coordinate a political campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote ( ...

in the city's 1961 mayoral election. The primary featured a total of three candidates. Pariseau defeated Mongan by an 883 margin.

General election

The general election saw Pariseau defeat Vallee. Pariseau led the vote in each of the city's 14 wards. Despite the state's Tax Commission having, earlier in the year, cleared Vallee of charges that he has manipulated lower tax assessments on his own properties, Pariseau used the allegations in his portrayal of Vallee as someone voters could not trust. While their mayoral nominee handily lost, the Democratic Party performed well in the coinciding election for Board of

, increasing their majority by a single seat to hold 12 of the board's 14 seats.

1971

The 1971 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 2, 1971, to elect the

. It saw the election of Democratic nominee Sylvio Dupuis, who defeated

Frank Wageman. Incumbent mayor

Charles R. Stanton Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

, who had been appointed by the city's Board of

after the

death in office A death in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations. The death ...

of Harry Pariseau, did not seek to a full term.

Primaries

During the October 5

primary elections Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

, three election officials were arrested with charges of "official misconduct". Due to the misconduct, the results of the city's fourth ward were declared void, and the Board of

and mayor called for a special election in the ward to allow a re-vote. However, both the winners of the initial result of both party's primaries had already won by large enough margins in the other wards that the results of the fourth ward would not change the outcome of the mayoral primary. In the Democratic primary,

optometrist Optometry is a specialized health care profession that involves examining the eyes and related structures for defects or abnormalities. Optometrists are health care professionals who typically provide comprehensive primary eye care. In the Uni ...

Sylvio Dupuis defeated New Hampshire state senators George Morrissette and William McCarthy, as Alphonse Bledeau, Lloyd Dasinow, and Angela Lafond. Dupuis had a 5,353 margin of victory over runner-up Morrissette. In the

primary, longtime alderman and insurance executive Frank Wageman defeated former city Republican Party chairman Gerald Carmen. Wageman won by a 2,047 margin of victory over Carmen.

General election

While the city was overwhelmingly Democratic (with registered Democrats outnumbering registered Republicans by 2–1), the election was predicted to be close, with Dupuis only having a slight advantage.

1973

The 1973 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 6, 1973, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of incumbent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Sylvio Dupuis, who defeated

nominee Norman Gauthier in a

Primaries

Primary elections Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

for the Democratic and

parties were held on October 2. Incumbent mayor Sylvio Dupuis ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Norman Gauthier defeated Lloyd Basinow in the Republican primary.

General election

1975

The 1975 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 4, 1975, to elect the

. It saw the election of Democratic incumbent

, who had been appointed mayor after the resignation of Sylvio Dupuis. Stanton defeated

nominee George Lacourse and

Lloyd Basinow in a

1977

The 1977 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 8, 1977, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of Democratic incumbent

, who defeated

nominee Richard Jacobs. Stanton won by a 3–1 margin of victory. Jacobs alleged that Stanton and his mayoral administration were guilty of wrongdoing. This argument was undercut days prior to the election when

New Hampshire attorney general The Attorney General of New Hampshire is a constitutional officer of the U.S. state of New Hampshire who serves as head of the New Hampshire Department of Justice. , the state's attorney general is John Formella. Qualifications and appointment Un ...

David Souter David Hackett Souter ( ; born September 17, 1939) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1990 until his retirement in 2009. Appointed by President George H. W. Bush to fill the seat t ...

disclosed that an investigation had failed to find any criminal activity.

1979

The 1979 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 6, 1979, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of Democratic incumbent

to a third consecutive full term (he had also previously served two partial terms). Stanton defeated New Hampshire state representative Henry Naro

nominee. The city was considered a Democratic stronghold. Among those who had unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination was

Robert F. Shaw The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

1981

The 1981 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 3, 1981, to elect the

. The election was won by city welfare commissioner

Emile Beaulieu Emile Dorilas Beaulieu Jr. (April 2, 1931 – December 30, 2016) was an American politician who served two nonconsecutive terms as the Mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire, from 1982 until 1983 and again from 1988 until 1989. Biography Early and p ...

, the Democratic nominee. Beaulieu defeated publishing executive Richard Jacobs, the Republican nominee. Turnout in the election was significantly higher than recent preceding elections. While Democrats outnumbered Republicans in the city by a 2–1 margin, in the previous year's presidential election, the Republican

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

and

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

had managed to outperform the Democratic ticket of

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

and

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928 – April 19, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 42nd vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. A U.S. senator from Minnesota ...

by a 2–1 margin in the city. In addition to retaining the mayoralty, Democrats also increased their majority on the city's Board of

by a seat, now holding 9 out of the 12 seats on the board.

1983

The 1983 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 8, 1983, to elect the

. It saw the election of

nominee

, who unseated first-term Democratic incumbent

by a roughly 1,400 vote margin (53% to 47%). Shaw's win was considered to be a surprise

. Shaw was the first Republican to be elected mayor in the city in twelve years. Shaw managed to perform strongly in wards of the city the traditionally voted Democratic. He centered his campaign on attacking Beaulieu's spending record. Shaw was a

gas station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoline ...

owner with no prior experience in public office. He had previously run unsuccessfully for the Democratic mayoral nomination in 1979. Before the election, Beaulieu had been perceived as a popular incumbent. Many of the candidates running in the

1984 Democratic Party presidential primaries From February 20 to June 12, 1984, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 1984 United States presidential election. Former Vice President Walter Mondale was selected as the nominee through a series of primary electio ...

had been courting his endorsement, with several of their campaigns even having their staff support Bealieu's reelection effort by holding signs outside polling places on election day. Presidential contender

Gary Hart Gary Warren Hart (''né'' Hartpence; born November 28, 1936) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until he dropped out amid revelations of extramarital affairs. ...

even went as far as to attend Beaulieu's election night party.

1985

The 1985 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 5, 1985, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of

incumbent

, who defeated Democratic nominee Peter Poirier. The election was considered to have had good

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...

. While, in its lead up, the election had failed to garner much attention from local voters, the election was treated by the state's Democratic Party as a paramount contest. In 1984, New Hampshire had seen the Democratic Party have what was considered its worst statewide election performance since at least the year 1900, with Republicans sweeping all of the top offices (winning the governorship, both

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

seats, a

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

seat, and all five seats on the Executive Council), and with Republicans also winning the largest majority their party had won in the

New Hampshire House of Representatives The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 204 legislative district ...

since 1900. At the time, some political analysts even predicted the state might be trending away from being a

swing state In American politics, the term swing state (also known as battleground state or purple state) refers to any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often referring to pre ...

, and instead towards being a state dominated by the Republican party. With the Democratic Party hoping to stage a comeback in the state, they wanted a win in the state's largest city, which could at least act as a morale boost to the state's Democratic faithful. The Democrats promoted the race as the prospective launching pad for their comeback in the state. Quite unusually for a local election, the state party fundraised for it. Poirier himself portrayed his performance in the election as "vitally important" to the state's Democratic Party. In late October, Michael Kranish of the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' wrote, "While a Democratic victory in this

blue-collar A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and powe ...

city would hardly sway the political winds in the rest of the state, it would at least be a psychological boost for the party faithful. There are even those who fear a Democratic Party defeat might damage the party beyond repair." State Democratic leadership was not alone in putting value on the election, with state Republican leaders also putting value on it, including having governor John Sununu hold a fundraiser for Shaw's reelection campaign. John Burns, the executive director of the

Republican Party of New Hampshire The New Hampshire Republican State Committee is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in New Hampshire. Its executive committee is headed by Chairman Stephen Stepanek. Current elected officials The New Hampshire Republican Party ho ...

, publicly admitted that he believed, "it would be a setback of sorts if we lost the race." At the time of the election, the city's electorate was strongly Democratic by registration, with roughly 24,000 registered Democrats, 13,000 registered Republicans, and 13,000 independents. The city had, before to Shaw's 1983 victory, been considered reliable territory for Democrats to win the mayoralty. In addition to being the incumbent mayor, Shaw was the owner of a

. Poirier was a teacher and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach of twenty years who had never before held public office. He had previously run unsuccessfully for the New Hampshire Executive Council (which his own father had once been a member of). In his unsuccessful bid for the state's Executive Council, he had managed to carry the vote of the city of Manchester. During the general election, both candidates stated they were anticipating a close race. During the general election, both candidates made criticisms and negative accusations of their opponent in media advertisements. Poirier portrayed Shaw as being an ill-tempered

autocrat Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perh ...

that intended on increasing

property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...

es without making improvements to city services. In the final week of the campaign, Shaw ran a full-page newspaper advertisement which accused Shaw of using his office to secure a $100,000 profit in a real estate deal. Shaw accused Poirier of practicing "slime" politics with this attack, and said he would sue him for it. In an inverse of the traditional positions seen in New Hampshire elections at the time, in this election the Republican was in support of a hike in property taxes while the Democrat pledged against making any tax increase. While Shaw had made a 1983 pledge not to raise taxes, he supported a tax increase in 1985, saying, "I could not in good conscience produce a political budget just to win this election."

1987

The 1987 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 2, 1971, to elect the

. It saw voters return former mayor

, a

, to office for a second nonconsecutive term. Beaulieu narrowly defeated

nominee Raymond Wieczorek by a margin of 359 votes. Two-term incumbent Republican mayor

declined to seek reelection to instead focus on his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the

1988 New Hampshire gubernatorial election The 1988 New Hampshire gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1988. Incumbent Governor John Sununu did not run for re-election, and was succeeded by U.S. Representative Judd Gregg. , this marks the most recent time that Republicans w ...

Primary elections

were held on September 15.

Democratic primary

In the Democratic primary, former mayor

defeated

Fernand Gelinas. Bealieu had successfully damaged Gelinas candidacy after alleging that a supporter of Gelinas of campaign irregularities, filing a complaint with the attorney general's office. While the attorney general's office would find no wrongdoing, this conclusion came long after the primary election had already taken place.

Republican primary

Raymond Wieczorek, a former insurance salesman and

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

chairman, ran unopposed in the

primary.

General election

The election campaign was considered to be relatively uneventful and low-key. Beaulieu ran on his record in government, and proclaimed, "I support an open, honest government, with an open-door policy". Beaulieu's top issues were providing adequate police and fire protection, and enabling the city's departments and boards to operate with minimal interference from his mayoral administration. In the time since his previous term as mayor had ended, Beaulieu had served as president and board member of the Easter Seal Society and

Goodwill Industries Goodwill Industries International Inc., often shortened in speech and writing to Goodwill (stylized as goodwill), is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides job training, employment placement services, and other community-bas ...

. He had also been the incorporator of the New Hampshire Workshop for the Blind and a member of the New Hampshire Right to Life Committee (an

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

group). Bealieu also worked in the business of carpet sales. Beaulieu's past political experience in state and local government were seen as giving him an advantage in the election. Wieczorek, an insurance businessman, ran on the idea that the city should be run like a business. He argued that Manchester would have better fiscal management if the city government's individual departments were given annual goals to achieve, and if they worked together towards a shared goal. Contrary to the hands-off approach Beaulieu was proposing to take with the city's departments and boards if elected, Wieczorek stated that he planned to have an active role in the operations of them. Wieczorek stated that, as mayor, he would work to develop a nonadversarial working relationship with the city's Board of Aldermen. He proposed, for the year 1989, having a

tax cap A tax cap places an Upper and lower bounds, upper bound on the amount of government tax a person might be required to pay. In this case the tax is said to be capped. Tax terms {{Tax-stub ...

of 3% and total budget expenditures of 5%. Wieczorek also placed an emphasis on addressing the population growth the city was undergoing, primarily the increases in services that would be demanded by this growth. Wieczorek had served as both president of the Manchester Housing Authority and president of

of Great Manchester, in addition to being involved in the Greater Manchester Human Services Council and Manchester Exchange Club. The election was considered surprisingly narrow for a city in which registered Democrats significantly outnumbered registered Republicans. The city had more than 23,000 registered Democrats, 13,500 registered Republicans, and 9,401 registered independents. Manchester was considered to be the sole Democratic stronghold in what was, at the time, considered to be a solidly Republican state. The election coincided with other municipal elections, including those for welfare commissioner, Board of

, and

. In the coinciding election, Democrats secured a 9 to 12 majority over Democrats on the Board of Aldermen.

1989

The 1989 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 7, 1989, to elect the

. It saw the election of

nominee Raymond Wieczorek, who unseated Democratic incumbent

by margin of 1,639 votes. The election was a rematch of the 1987 contest between the two. Additionally, Fernand Gelinas ran as an

Primaries

were held on September 19.

Democratic primary

In the Democratic primary, incumbent

narrowly won renomination, with a mere 60 vote margin over

and New Hampshire State Representative Leona Dykstra, the closest of his two challengers in the primary. Dykstra strongly attacked Beaulieu for the city's

increase. Bealieu blamed his Republican predecessor,

, for the increase. Bealieu's defense came despite the fact that he actually supported the 1988 budget that led to a 17.7% property tax increase during the first year of his term, and that, before leaving office, his predecessor Shaw was actually going to veto this budget. Dystra pledged to implement zero-based budgeting if elected mayor, which was the method already used by the state government in which it made departments prove claims that they needed more funding. Dykstra also supported charging developers

impact fees An impact fee is a fee that is imposed by a local government within the United States on a new or proposed development project to pay for all or a portion of the costs of providing public services to the new development.Juergensmeyer, Julian C., an ...

for infrastructure improvements demanded by their developments. In the lead up to the election, Bealieu and Dykstra found themselves taking positions on opposing sides of a number of matters. For instance, Dykstra had, around the time of her campaign, she cast a vote against the Board of Alderman allowing the city to potentially issue a $13 million bond to fund an underground

parking garage A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

for the controversial proposed Market Square development. Since her vote caused a tie, Bealieu cast a tiebreaking vote, voting in favor of giving the city the option to issue this bond. This vote put them on record as siding on opposite sides of this matter Despite rainy weather (a

drizzle Drizzle is a light precipitation consisting of liquid water drops smaller than those of rain – generally smaller than in diameter. Drizzle is normally produced by low stratiform clouds and stratocumulus clouds. Precipitation rates from dri ...

), the primary managed to see roughly 35% turnout among the city's registered Democrats. Turnout had been particularly strong in the city's 6th ward, which was Dkystra's own ward (Dykstra carried that ward by a strong margin).

Republican primary

In the

primary, Raymond Wieczorek, who had been the party's nominee in 1987 (which he narrowly lost to Beaulieu) ran unopposed. Wieczorek was an insurance salesman and the former chairman of the city Republican Party. He had previously served as the head of the Manchester Housing Authority.

General election

Throughout the general election, incumbent Beaulieu was seen as facing a very strong challenge from Wieczorek. The increase in property taxes continued to be a damaging issue for Bealieu. Other subjects discussed by the candidates included include

waste disposal Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitoring ...

, a potential expansion of the city's airport, and development in the city's downtown. Beaulieu attacked Wieczorek by alleging that, during Wieczorek's three-year tenure as head of the Manchester Housing Authority, the agency saw its budget increase by 28%. Democrat Fernand Gelinas ran as an

. He was seen as a potential

spoiler Spoiler is a security vulnerability on modern computer central processing units that use speculative execution. It exploits side-effects of speculative execution to improve the efficiency of Rowhammer and other related memory and cache attacks. Ac ...

for Democrats, and won 2,384 votes (which, indeed, was greater than the margin by which Bealieu had lost) by. Gelinas ran a low-key low-budget campaign, but was very active in appearing on the campaign trail. He had good

name recognition In politics, name recognition is the ability a voter has to identify a candidate's name due to a certain amount of previous exposure through various campaigning methods. It can be described as the awareness voters have about specific candidates r ...

. Wieczorek defeated Beaulieu by a margin of 1,639 votes.

1991

The 1991 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 5, 1991, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of

incumbent Raymond Wieczorek, who won a

over Hillsborough County commissioner John J. McDonough, who was the Democratic nominee.

Primaries

were held on September 17. A combined 27% of voters cast votes in the primaries, which was approximately 5% lower than the average of recent previous elections. Hillsborough County commissioner John J. McDonough ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, and incumbent mayor Raymond Wieczorek ran unopposed in the

primary.

General election

The impacts of the

early 1990s recession The early 1990s recession describes the period of economic downturn affecting much of the Western world in the early 1990s. The impacts of the recession contributed in part to the 1992 U.S. presidential election victory of Bill Clinton over incu ...

on the city were seen as being a drag on Weiczorek's reelection hopes. Accordingly, McDonough attacked Weizcorek on the economic downturn in the city. While Weiczorek claimed to have made some economic progress, McDonnough claimed this was untrue. Both candidates had signed an agreement not to use negative campaign tactics. When McDonough's camapign both accused Wieczorek of having "lied to the voters" and ran an ad which accused Weiczorek of pushing to delay the distribution of

tax bill An appropriation, also known as supply bill or spending bill, is a proposed law that authorizes the expenditure of government funds. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In some democracies, approval of the legislature is ne ...

s until after election day to aid his reelection chances (which Weiczorek refuted as being a "blatant lie"), Wieczorek registered a complaint with the

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

, accusing McDonough of having violated this agreement. McDonough denied that he was engaging in negative campaigning. Weiczorek admitted to his failure to actualize his plan to cut the city budget and identify cost savings had been unsuccessful, but defended himself by saying, "I certainly tried through." He characterized the budget he had been left by his Democratic predecessor

as having been a "political one" with sizeable gaps in spending that required resolving, and with labor contracts he lacked the power to change without the consent of the Democratic-majority Board of

. Weiczorek pledged to provide more police protection to areas suffering from crime. He also took credit for increasing the size of the police force by 17 officers. McDonough called into question whether that was an accurate number. McDonough laid blame for an increase in crime with Wieczorek. manchester-nh-nynex (15107558556)

Weiczorek claimed responsibility for helping convince some employers to remain in the city's downtown, and gave himself credit for the construction of a new

industrial park An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park, ...

and of the 20-floor

NYNEX NYNEX Corporation was an American telephone company that served five states of New England (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont) as well as most of the state of New York from January 1, 1984 to August 14, 1997. History ...

office building being constructed in the city. McDonough, however, asserted that the mayor did not have anything to do with the NYNEX building, and instead argued that the credit lied with Wieczorek's Democratic predecessor. Wieczorek pledged to keep the city's tax rate stable. McDonough blamed Wieczorek for a rise in city taxes. Weiczorek proposed a five-year capital plan to fund upgrades and reconstruction of roads, bridges, sewers, and water systems. McDonough promised to lobby companies to move to the city. His plans included hiring a new coordinator in charge of the recruitment of new business and industry to the city, a job which he said had been vacant for over a year. However, McDonough spent the bulk of his campaign assailing Wieczorek's record, rather than focusing on his own plans for the city. He derided the record of accomplishments that Wieczorek claimed to have as, "phony". Wieczorek criticized McDonough's record as a county commissioner, including attacking McDonough for supporting a $1.7 million pay increase for employees of the county, and for supporting additions to the county budget which Wieczorek characterized as, "skyrocketing". Manchester was regarded to be a Democratic Party stronghold. Weiczorek's reelection was considered to be a

1993

The 1993 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 2, 1993, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of

incumbent Raymond Wieczorek to a third consecutive term. Wieczorek won a

2–1 victory over

Robert H. Dennis, who was the Democratic nominee.

Primaries

were held on September 21. Two-term

Robert H. Dennis defeated 1991 Democratic nominee John J. McDonough in the Democratic primary, and incumbent mayor Raymond Wieczorek ran unopposed in the

primary.

General election

Raymond Wieczorek defeated Robert H. Dennis by a 2–1 margin. In the coinciding election for the city's Board of Aldermen, for the first time in over six decades, the Republican Party won majority control of the board. Wieczorek, who had battled with the Democratic-majority Board of Aldermen over his two terms as mayor, encouraged city voters to support Republican candidates for the board.

1995

The 1995 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 7, 1995, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of incumbent

Raymond Wieczorek to a fourth consecutive term. Wieczorek defeated Democratic nominee

(who had formerly been a Republican mayor of the city from 1984 through 1987) and

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

nominee Robert Howe. This was the final partisan mayoral election in the city.

General election

1997

The 1997 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 4, 1997, to elect the

. It saw the reelection of Raymond Wieczorek to a fifth consecutive term. The election was the first to be held under new rules in which the election was formally nonpartisan. Before the general election, a nonpartisan

was held in September to determine the two candidates who would appear on the general election ballot. The general and primary elections both coincided with those for the Manchester Board of

and the city's

. Wieczorek and Shaw had also faced each other in the previous election.

Candidates

, former mayor (1984–1987), candidate for the Republican nomination in the

, and Democratic nominee in the 1995 mayoral election * Raymond J. Wieczorek, mayor since 1990 While the election was nonpartisan, some candidates had publicly-known partisan affiliations. Shaw was a known

. Wieczorek was a known

Results

;Primary election Robert F. Shaw and Raymond Wieczorek won the primary. ;General election

1999

The 1999 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 2, 1999, to elect the

. It saw the election of Robert A. Baines, who unseated fifth-term incumbent mayor Raymond Wieczorek. The election was formally nonpartisan. Before the general election, a nonpartisan

was held on September 21, 1999, to determine the two candidates who would appear on the general election ballot. The general and primary elections both coincided with those for the Manchester Board of

. The general election also coincided with the election for welfare commissioner, a

election. and a ballot question.

Candidates

* Robert A. Baines, principal of

Manchester High School West Manchester High School West, known as West High or West, is a public high school located in Manchester, New Hampshire. It is a part of the Manchester School District. According to the ''Blue Book: Manchester High School West Hand Book '' (1940), ...

* Donna M. Soucy, member of the

(1992–1996) * Raymond J. Wieczorek, mayor since 1990 While the election was nonpartisan, all three candidates had publicly-known partisan affiliations. Baines and Soucy were both known Democrats. Wieczorek was a

Results

;Primary election ;General election

References

{{reflist 20th 20th century in New Hampshire