Donchess Calls Nashua 'City On The Rise'; Sports Betting Nixed

NASHUA, NH — Jim Donchess said he is optimistic that Nashua can build off the progress made in the first term of his second stint as the city's mayor as the polls closed in municipal elections Tuesday night. While Donchess was re-elected running unopposed for a second four-year term, there were contested races for alderman, board of education and public works commission.

Donchess spoke with Patch on Tuesday and said his priorities for the next four years involve continuing to redevelop the downtown and riverfront areas, creating more affordable housing in the city and building off the environmental and cultural initiatives that have taken place in Nashua during his first term.

“Nashua is a city on the rise," Donchess said. "We know that now. And we know that we can make even more progress."

Donchess said that while the development of the southern retail district, including the Pheasant Lane Mall area, was a large part of building the city's tax base during his first run as mayor 1984-1991, the current priorities involve attracting more businesses and residents downtown.

"We have built a stronger tax base," Donchess said. "The focus is going to continue to be on the need more affordable housing, especially downtown. Then we want to make progress on our riverfront master plan to take advantage the river, and better exhibit the beauty of having it run through our city."

In what may be considered the upset of the night, the proposal to have sports betting retail locations in Nashua under the state's new sports gambling law was voted down 4,730 to 4,665. The charter to set new timetables for replacing in-term vacancies on the board of aldermen, board of education, fire commission and public works commission passed 5,739 to 3,465.

Official vote totals as of 9:45 p.m. had a 16.1 percent voter turnout. Vote totals do not include absentee or write-in ballots, which will be confirmed when the vote becomes official Wednesday morning.

There were three candidates for four at-large alderman positions with Benjamin M. Clemons, Melbourne Moran Jr., Lori Wilshire and Michael B. O'Brien Sr. vying for the at-large spots. The three incumbents secured their seats back with Wilshire collecting 6,547 votes, Clemons 5,866 votes and O'Brien with 5,539 votes. Moran was fourth with 3,217 votes.

There were also contested alderman races in Wards 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

Patricia Kee ran unopposed in Ward 3 and Ernest Jette ran unopposed on Ward 5.

In Ward 1, incumbent Jan Schmidt faced a challenge from Mark Cookson. Schmidt emerged victorious 868 to 781.

In Ward 2, incumbent Richard Dowd faced a challenge from former state Sen. Kevin Avard. Dowd retained his seat with a 586 to 492 margin.

In Ward 4, incumbent Thomas Lopez ran up against former Ward 4 alderman Arthur Craffey Jr. Lopez won the race 306 to 168.

In Ward 6, Elizabeth Lu won with 337 votes, with Kevin Scully receiving 290 votes and Joseph MacIntyre 279.

In Ward 7, incumbent June Caron was challenged by Drew Sullivan with Caron prevailing 553 to 305.

In Ward 8, Skip Cleaver and Dave MacLaughlin were competing for an open seat with Cleaver winning 574 to 496.

In Ward 9, Linda Harriott-Gathright received a challenge from Bill Ohm with Harriott-Gathright winning 652 to 592.

A crowded field of 11 candidates were vying for five spots on the board of education. Jennifer Bishop was the leading vote-getter at 5,793 votes, with the other four spots going to Sharon Giglio at 4,423, Sandra Ziehm at 4,357, Jessica Brown at 4,299 and Paula Johnson at 3,991.

Five candidates competed for three spots on the fire commission. Kevin Burgess won the vote at 4,549 with the other two seats going to Donald Davidson at 4,o56 and Paul Garant at 3,2,38.

Three candidates ran for two spots on the public works board. Kevin Moriarty won with 5,146 votes with the second spot going to Sharon Shoneman at 4,352.

More Patch NH Election Coverage: Alderman Candidates Support Nashua Betting Locations