It's Harrington Vs. Pangallo In Salem's Mayoral Special Election

SALEM, MA — Salem voters chose City Hall experience on Tuesday with former Salem Mayor Neil Harrington and former Mayor's Office Chief of Staff Dominick Pangallo as the top two finishers out of a field of five in the preliminary election for the top office in the city.

Now they will choose before past experience running the city and more recent history helping run it when Harrington and Pangallo face off on May 16 special election to become the Witch City's first newly elected mayor since 2006.

Pangallo, who served as former Mayor Kim Driscoll's chief of staff from 2013 through 2022, and Harrington, who was Salem's mayor from 1990 to 1997, were the top two finishers by a comfortable margin in Tuesday's preliminary election.

Pangallo was the top vote-getter in unofficial results with 3,078 votes, with Harrington second at 2,303, former City Councilor Steve Dibble in third at 1,035, Acting Mayor and Ward 2 City Councilor Robert McCarthy fourth at 605, and longtime city activist Stacia Kraft fifth at 188.

Pangallo told Patch Tuesday night that it was clear from the results that voters were "looking for someone ready to get to work on day one."

"Salem has changed enormously in the last few decades," he said. "Not only in the people who are here but in the projects and issues and challenges that we are facing."

He said the preliminary round win is encouraging heading into the May 16 vote.

"I am feeling really good about it," Pangallo said. "We worked hard. We had a large team of volunteers who have been at this for a long time doing the work. Knocking on doors and doing what you need to do to win but also to do right by the voters."

While Harrington trailed Pangallo by about 700 in the overall vote total, he told Patch that he thinks it will be a different race when "obviously, the turnout will be much higher in the final election."

"Having a primary in March is a somewhat unprecedented phenomenon," he told Patch. "Overall, we met our goal, which was to reach the final, and I congratulate everyone in the race and thank everyone who ran for running a good, clean race all with the same goal in mind, which is to build a brighter future for our city."

The five candidates were vying to fill the spot Driscoll vacated before she was sworn in as lieutenant governor in January. The winner of the May special election will fill out the remaining 2 1/2 years of what was Driscoll's fifth term.

"While we didn't achieve the results our campaign was hoping for, we are truly grateful for the overwhelmingly positive support we received across the past few months," McCarthy said in a campaign statement to Patch. "When I took the oath of office to be Salem's mayor (in January), I promised to provide a smooth transition and to engage with the community through listening. We still have plenty of work to do ahead, most critically the city's FY24 budget, and I will do everything I can to gracefully pass the baton to the next administration."

McCarthy is set to resume his role on the City Council following the May 16 vote.

"It will remain an honor of my life to serve in this role, but I will always be there for Salem no matter the title," McCarthy said. "Thank you again to our supporters and best wishes to the final candidates, too."

(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.)