Full and original article posted on Worcester Magazine
In Worcester, the argument we have a problem with our local elections is easy to make.
Turnout for a municipal election has not exceeded 23 percent of registered voters in a decade, and a familiar cast of incumbents skate to victory every year. In the last municipal election, there was only one challenger for School Committee and the race for at-large council was merely a shuffling around of incumbents. At-Large Councilor Konnie Lukes challenged Joe Petty for mayor for the ideological reason he should not run for the seat unopposed. Indeed, the only spirited races on the council side were for seats left open in District 1 and District 5.
This year, with more than 30 candidates announcing early intentions to enter the race, things may be different. School Committee and City Council could see more challengers than incumbents. If that turns out to be the case once the nomination process concludes, it would certainly buck the trend of recent years.
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