Race To Be Next Salem Mayor Ramps Up With 4 Candidates

SALEM, MA – A special election race that meandered around the starting line for nearly a year as former Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll increasingly became the odds-on favorite to become the state's next lieutenant governor has suddenly turned into a sprint.

With Driscoll's inauguration at the State House last week, and the City Council choosing Councilor Robert McCarthy as the city's new acting mayor, the campaign to fill out the remaining three years of what was Driscoll's fifth term began with four declared candidates and two months until a preliminary election on March 28 if at least three candidates have nomination papers certified.

The top two candidates will then face each other in a May 16 vote to become the city's next mayor.

Businessman Skip Bensley, former City Councilor Steve Dibble, former Mayor Neil Harrington and Chief of Staff Dominick Pangallo have all announced their intention to be on the ballot with each candidate coming at the race from a different constituency and perspective.

"I think I'm obviously the outsider," Bensley, a Chicago native who works in technology for a Boston financial firm and has a background in television production, told Patch last week. "I have a lot of world experience coming from California in the TV business, working at the Harvard Business School. I bring a different set of skills to the table than the other candidates do.

"I don't agree with everything that Kim Driscoll did. She did some great things with health services and during the COVID-19 outbreak in following Gov. Charlie Baker's lead in doing right by the people of Salem and families of Salem. … But I don't know why the school system has languished under an 'education' mayor."

Dibble ran unsuccessfully against Driscoll in 2021 but noted in his candidacy announcement that he did garner 41 percent of the vote in a campaign that pushed back on the level of influence that she had built up in the city and his claim that she put development and tourism over the everyday needs and desires of longtime Salem residents.

"After 16 years, I had felt she had been mayor for long enough and was failing to listen to the needs of many Salem residents," Dibble said. "While the people, culture, and spirit of Salem are as strong as ever, Salem needs a slight change. … A continuation of the status quo cannot continue and going backward is not an option either."

Harrington served as the city's mayor from 1990 until 1997 and is currently the Salisbury town administrator. He cites his background in holding the top leadership spot in two municipalities as necessary to help keep the Witch City on track in what will be the first new administration since 2006.

"That’s the one thing that I bring to this race that none of the other candidates have — direct managerial experience," Harrington told Patch. "Not only on the city level but the town level as well. I am currently doing that now so there is not any learning curve for me.

"Some of the things that were initiated under my administration Mayor Driscoll followed through with. That’s encouraging and gratifying. She certainly made her own stamp on the city and made many contributions. But she is no longer there so the question is: Who is best suited to move the city forward?'"

Pangallo, whom Driscoll has endorsed, is the candidate viewed as most closely tied to Driscoll's policies and outlook for the city.

"Working for Salem, for my neighbors and my hometown, over the last decade has been the privilege of my life," Pangallo, a Salem native, told Patch. "I'm running for mayor to ensure that Salem keeps moving forward for us all, that our city is a place that continues striving to work for everyone, and that we keep the forward momentum of these past years.

"We've made so much progress — but now Salem is at a pivotal moment. We can't go backward. We can't give up on what we've achieved together. I believe the path Salem is on is the right one — that we can build on the foundation that so many of us have helped to create and fix what isn't working."

Candidates have until Feb. 3 at 5 p.m. to take out nomination papers and until Feb. 21 at 5 p.m. to file nomination papers certified by the Board of Registrars with the City Clerk's office.

The names of the candidates will be posted on Feb. 22 with a drawing for the ballot for the preliminary election, if necessary, the next day.

The last day to register to vote in the preliminary election is March 18. The last day to register to vote for the final special election is May 6.

The last day to request an absentee ballot by mail for the preliminary election is March 21. The last day to request an absentee ballot by mail for the final special election is May 9.

"I encourage people in Salem to pay attention over the next few months because this is going to come up quickly," Harrington said. "They are going to have to understand the strengths, and perhaps pick out the weaknesses, of each candidate, and pick one they think is most suitable for the job."

(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.)