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.

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.