Vigeant, Garceau Lead In Marlborough Mayoral Preliminary Election

MARLBOROUGH, MA — Incumbent Mayor Arthur Vigeant and Marlborough police officer David Garceau were the top two vote-getters in the Oct. 8 preliminary election in Marlborough, according to unofficial results released Tuesday night. Local businessman Keith St. John came in third, and so likely won't advance to the Nov. 5 general election.

Only about 11 percent of Marlborough voters (2,485 out of 22,633 total) turned out on Tuesday. Here's how many votes each candidate got, according to the City Clerk:

• Arthur Vigeant — 1,451 votes, 58.3 percent support
• David Garceau — 666 votes, 26.8 percent support
• Keith St. John — 356 votes, 14.3 percent support
• Write-ins — 3 votes
• Blank ballots — 9

Vigeant's wide lead is perhaps no surprise. He's been mayor of Marlborough since 2011, and before that was a Councilman for 18 years — half of that time as Council president. On top of his visibility, Vigeant also raised a lot more money than either Garceau or St. John. He got about $18,000 total, including $1,000 donations from Patriot Ambulance CEO Dave Walton and New England Sports Center general manager Wes Tuttle.

Garceau, who self-funded his run, has been a Marlborough police officer for almost four decades. He wants to tend to a range of issues in Marlborough, from increasing green space, to creating public housing for retirees, to managing growth in the downtown area.

Ahead of the release Tuesday night of the unofficial election results, Garceau was optimistic about his campaign based on what he heard throughout the day.

"I think I did well, based on the number of people who gave me a thumbs up or gave me a toot and wave as they were leaving the polls," he told Patch.

St. John entered the race in early July, running on environmental issues like increasing the city's green energy portfolio, and redeveloping the downtown area. St. John has never held office, but he briefly ran in 2018 for the House seat that Democratic U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan won. He raised about $3,300 for his mayoral bid as of Sept. 30, the second-highest of the three candidates.

Local residents have until Oct. 18 to register to vote in time for the November election. You can register or check your registration status on the Massachusetts Secretary of State website.