About Half of Massachusetts Cities Have Four-Year Mayoral Terms

Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan is up for re-election this fall. If it seems the Spindle City is in a perpetual state of campaigning, it is.

Like all Massachusetts cities with elected mayors, Fall River has a municipal election every two years. New Bedford does as well.

However, while Fall River elects a mayor every other year, mayoral elections are held every four years in New Bedford.

Get our free mobile app

City councilors, school committee members, and other elected municipal officials in both cities face re-election every two years, thus the perception that they are always campaigning.

Of the 351 communities in Massachusetts, 47 have elected mayors. Twenty-four (51 percent) of them have four-year mayoral terms. Twenty-three (49 percent) have two-year terms.

For most of its history, New Bedford had two-year mayoral terms. In 2017, voters narrowly approved a ballot question extending New Bedford's mayoral term to four years.

There was a time when New Bedford held mayoral elections annually.

Mayor Jon Mitchell, first elected Mayor of New Bedford in 2011, was the first to win the new four-year term in 2019. In 2023, Mitchell won a second four-year term. Mitchell has not indicated if he plans to seek a third four-year term when his current term is up in 2027.

Mitchell told WBSM as far back as 2013 that he favored a four-year term, calling the two-year term "archaic."

In 2017, Mitchell told WBSM, "Running the City of New Bedford is not like running a lemonade stand." Mitchell said a two-year term forces more short-term decisions than long-term ones.

The Massachusetts Municipal Association's website lists all current Massachusetts mayors, the length of their term, and when their term expires.