Elections are currently held every four years to elect the mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts.
Before 1961, mayoral elections were partisan. Starting in 1961, they have been nonpartisan.
Terms had, originally, been for a length of a single year, but were later extended to two years. Starting with the 2011 mayoral election, terms were extended further to four years.
Elections prior to 1933
1933 In 1933, Henry Martens, a Republican was elected mayor.
1935 In 1935, Henry Martens, a Republican was reelected.
1937 In 1937, Roger Putnam, a Democrat was elected mayor.
1939 In 1939, Roger Putnam, a Democrat was reelected to a second term.
1941 In 1941, Roger Putnam, a Democrat was reelected to a third term.
1943 In 1943, Acting Mayor J. Albin Anderson Jr., a Republican, won election to a full mayoral term.
1945 In 1935, Daniel B. Brunton, a Democrat was elected.
1947 In 1947, Daniel B. Brunton, a Democrat was reelected to a second term.
1949 In 1949, Daniel B. Brunton, a Democrat was reelected to a third term.
1951 mayoral election
The 1951 Springfield, Massachusetts mayoral election was held on November 6, 1951. It saw incumbent mayor Daniel B. Brunton reelected to a fourth term.
Democratic Primary Candidates Daniel B. Brunton, incumbent mayor Saul Silbergleit, business owner
Republican Primary Candidates Vernon E. Bradley, member of Board of Assessors Saul Silbergleit, business owner Leland A. Stone, member of School Committee
General Election
1953 mayoral election
The 1953 Springfield, Massachusetts mayoral election was held on November 3, 1953. It saw incumbent mayor Daniel B. Brunton reelected to a fifth term.
The primaries marked the first instance in which the city of Springfield used voting machines in all of its precincts. Turnout for the primaries was over 20%.
Democratic primary Incumbent mayor Daniel B. Brunton ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. More than 7,000 voters cast votes in the non-competitive Democratic primary.
Republican primary In the Republican primary, Wendell P. Chamberlain (a Massachusetts state representative) defeated four candidates for the nomination. His competitors were ward 1 alderman Normand J. Beaudry, assessor Vernon E. Bradley (who had previously been the Republican nominee for mayor in 1951), ward 4 alderman and Springfield Board of Alderman president Henry Clay, and former school board member Theodore Wiel.
General election
1955 mayoral election
The 1955 Springfield, Massachusetts mayoral election was held on November 8, 1955. It saw incumbent mayor Daniel B. Brunton reelected to a sixth term.
Democratic primary In the Democratic primary, incumbent Daniel B. Brunton faced Hampden County registrar of deeds John P. Lynch and Springfield superintendent of streets James J. Sullivan.
Republican primary In the Republican primary, businessman and Springfield Fire Commission member Leon H. Hutchins defeated Board of Assessors member William G. Macauley.
General election Brunton defeated Hutchins.
1957 mayoral election
The 1957 Springfield, Massachusetts mayoral election was held on November 5, 1957. It saw incumbent mayor Daniel B. Brunton unseated, losing renomination in the Democratic primary to Thomas J. O'Connor, who went on to win the general election.
O'Connor became the youngest mayor in the city's history.
Democratic primary Incumbent mayor Daniel B. Brunton lost renomination to Massachusetts state representative Thomas J. O'Connor in a landslide, losing in all of the city's 68 voting precincts.
When Brunton first announced his campaign against the longtime mayor, his odds of succeeding were seen as slim.
Significant issues debated in the primary included the city's police commission, off-street parking, and businesses leaving the city's downtown.
Republican primary
General election
1959 mayoral election
The 1959 Springfield, Massachusetts mayoral election was held on November 3, 1959. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Thomas J. O'Connor.
This was Springfield's final partisan mayoral election, as voters also voted to approve a move to nonpartisan elections. The measure that did so also switched from a weak mayor form of government to a strong mayor form.
Democratic primary In a rematch of the 1957 Democratic primary, incumbent mayor Thomas J. O'Connor was challenged by former mayor Daniel B. Brunton. O'Connor handily defeated O'Connor, leading him in all 66 of the city's 68 voting precincts.
Results
Results by ward Ward Brunton O'Connor Total Votes Votes % Votes % 1st 617 27.39% 1,636 72.61% 2,253 2nd 1,557 23.21% 5,152 76.79% 6,709 3rd 1,450 37.28% 2,439 62.72% 3,889 4th 484 33.04% 981 66.96% 1,465 5th 431 22.97% 1,445 77.03% 1,876 6th 476 13.78% 2,978 86.22% 3,454 7th 791 20.80% 3,012 79.20% 3803 8th 824 16.30% 4,232 83.70% 5,056
Republican primary Paul E. Affleck, the city councilman from the city's 5th ward, won the Republican primary unopposed.
General election Running as an independent candidate was Daniel B. Brunton, who had failed to win the Democratic primary.
1961 mayoral election
The 1961 Springfield, Massachusetts mayoral election was held on November 7, 1961, and was preceded by a primary on October 10. It saw Charles Ryan defeat incumbent mayor Thomas J. O'Connor. It was the city's first nonpartisan mayoral election
Candidates Norman E. Cowles Arbold R. Craven Thomas J. O'Connor, incumbent mayor since 1958 Charles Ryan, lawyer Bernard M. Lapointe John P. Lynch, Hampden County registrar of deeds since 1952, and 1955 mayoral candidate Arthur J. McKenna Armand N. Tancrati, Massachusetts state representative Raymond N. Tuller Jr.
Campaign The 1960 reassessment of all real estate in Springfield led to a furor when one-third of the city's homeowners received increases in their property tax over the previous year. On October 11, 1960, 4,500 residents attended a meeting at Springfield Auditorium where members of the Board of Assessors attempted to explain the tax increase. Each member was booed off the stage before they could speak. O'Connor, who had no role in the property reassessment, failed to quiet the crowd and police were called in. O'Connor planned to cut 578 jobs from the 1961 budget to reduce the city's taxes, but reversed this decision due to a lack of public support.
O'Connor's general election defeat was considered an upset.
Two weeks after O'Connor's loss, the city's percentage assessment system, which had been a major issue during the campaign, was declared unconstitutional by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Results Primary
General election
1963 mayoral election
The 1963 Springfield, Massachusetts mayoral election was held on November 6, 1963, and was preceded by a primary on October 8. It saw incumbent mayor Charles Ryan reelected.
Candidates Arthur R. Caney John P. Lynch, Hampden County registrar of deeds since 1952; 1955 and 1961 mayoral candidate Charles Ryan, incumbent mayor
Campaign Incumbent mayor Charles Ryan and registrar of deeds John P. Lynch were considered the two major contenders. A third candidate in the primary, Arthur R. Caney, was regarded as a political unknown. Ryan and Lynch were the two who advanced to the general election.
Both Lynch and Ryan identified as Democrats. Ryan's campaign was managed by his brother, Donald Ryan.
The campaign turned tense when, eight days before the general election, Lynch accused Ryan of being an advocate of busing, bringing a racially-charged issue into the mix. The day before the election, in a television appearance, Ryan alleged that bussing had already started, and that Ryan had approved it. On the day of the election, the Springfield Union ran two full-paged advertisements which showed black children departing school buses at Memorial School in the fashionable, and largely white, East Forest Park neighborhood. The ads, again claimed that Ryan had begun busing in the city. Ryan responded by making a series of radio appearances on Election Day. In one he claimed that the photos actually were showing black children that had been transported to the school, not for the sake of racial integration, but due to overcrowding at schools in parts of the cities that were predominantly black. He also came out against using bussing to resolve de facto segregation.
Results Primary
General election
1965 mayoral election
The 1965 Springfield, Massachusetts mayoral election was held on November 2, 1965, and was preceded by a primary on October 4. It saw the reelection of Charles Ryan to a third term.
The primary, held October 4, had been moved from its original date of October 5. Unusually, this made Election Day a Monday instead of a Tuesday. The change of date was made to avoid the election overlapping with the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.
Candidates Charles E. Cobb, reverend at St. John's Congregational Church James Grimaldi, Massachusetts state representative and Springfield city councilor Rojer J. Lemelin, former Springfield assessor Charles Ryan, incumbent mayor Frances L. Shea, independent advertising agent
Campaign In the general election Ryan faced state representative and Springfield city councilor James Grimaldi. He faced several additional candidates in the primary. In the primary, Charles E. Cobb was the first black candidate to run for mayor in the city's history. Frances L. Shea was among the earliest women to run for Springfield's mayoralty.
A major issue in the campaign was how to resolve inequality in the quality of the schools buildings serving the city's largely non-white neighborhoods compared those serving its largely-white neighborhoods. Mayor Ryan proposed limited open enrollment, and hoped for the state to pay for the expense of busing. He felt that black groups had failed to assist in making open enrollment successful in the city. Grimaldi hoped to resolve these inequalities by replacing the city's older school buildings, many of which were located in largely black neighborhoods. Rojer J. Lemelin pledged to follow state's racial imbalance law. Charles E. Cobb argued that students at Buckingham Junior High School (a 63.2% non-white school) were 2.5 years behind students at junior high schools with predominantly white student bodies. He argued against open enrollment, saying that it asked, "the very people least able to pay" to personally finance their children's transportation. Frances L. Shea promised to follow the state's racial imbalance law, but argued that, "all laws are flexible and we should make them fit our situation".
Other major issues included taxes, the proposed closure of the Springfield Armory, and allegations of police brutality in the city.
1967 mayoral election
The 1967 Springfield, Massachusetts mayoral election was held on November 7, 1967. It saw the election of Frank Harlan Freedman. Incumbent mayor Charles Ryan did not seek reelection, instead accepting a lecturing job at the Springfield College. It saw the elect of Frank Harlan Freedman.
Candidates James Grimaldi, Massachusetts state representative since 1965, former Springfield city councilor; 1965 and 1967 mayoral candidate Frank Harlan Freedman, Springfield city councilor and assistant attorney general
Campaign While the election was officially nonpartisan, Freeman was a Republican and Grimaldi was a Democrat. Freedman became the city's first Jewish mayor. If elected, Grimaldi would have been its first Italian mayor.
1969 mayoral election
The 1969 Springfield, Massachusetts mayoral election was held on November 4, 1969, and was preceded by a primary held on October 7, 1969. It saw the reelection of Frank Harlan Freedman.
Candidates James Grimaldi, Massachusetts state representative since 1965, former Springfield city councilor; 1965 and 1967 mayoral candidate Frank Harlan Freedman, incumbent mayor since 1968 Frederick Hurst William J. Kingston, parks commissioner and former Minor League Baseball player
Campaign