How Salem Will Fill Mayor's Seat As Kim Driscoll Heads To Beacon Hill

SALEM, MA — The election of Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll as the state's new lieutenant governor Tuesday night means the city will have to find a new mayor for the first time in 16 years and hold a special election for its highest elected office for the first time since it went to a four-year mayoral term.

City Clerk Ilene Simons said on Wednesday that she would be posting a special meeting of the City Council for Monday where she will submit preliminary election dates aimed at filling the vacancy created when Driscoll makes her move to Beacon Hill.

(Also on Patch: Kim Driscoll: From Salem Mayor To Beacon Hill As MA's New Lt. Governor)

Simons told Patch that as of Wednesday she had not received a letter from Mayor Driscoll indicating when her resignation will take effect. But the expectation is that after the City Council chooses its next Council President at the start of January it will then proceed to name an acting mayor.

She said an election date has not been set but that she expects the special election will take place in a March/May timeframe.

Driscoll was elected as the city's first woman mayor in 2006.

On Tuesday night, she was elected with Attorney General Maura Healey to serve as the first all-woman executive in state history.

"This evening is 242 years in the making," Driscoll said of the ticket's triumph on Tuesday night. "Today, Massachusetts voters stood proud, spoke with one powerful, clear voice and said: 'It's her time!'"

Dominick Pangallo, Driscoll's Chief of Staff, said last month he would seek to succeed Driscoll as mayor should she win the statewide race. Other candidates are expected to announce their bids for the office in the days and weeks ahead.

Driscoll announced she intended to run for the state's No. 2 post two months after she defeated former City Councilor Steve Dibble for a fifth term as mayor in November 2021.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)