Beginning shortly after the city's incorporation as a city in 1846, elections have been held in themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. The following article provides information on the elections for mayor in the city during the 20th century.

The city of Manchester, New Hampshire, held its first mayoral election in1846.^[1][2]

Throughout the 20th century, and still today, regularly scheduled elections are for two-year terms. This had been the case since the1880 election.^{[citation needed]}

The city's mayoral elections are currently are nonpartisan, a change which was adopted before the 1997 election. While, prior to 1997, elections had long been partisan, there had been stretches previous to 1999 in which the city's mayoral elections had been nonpartisan, including the stretch of four elections held from 1953 through 1959.^[3]

The1902 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofDemocratic candidateEugene Elliott Reed, who defeatedRepublican candidate Walter M. Fulton, Independent Citizens candidate Murdock A. Weathers and Socialist candidate John E. Mansfield.^[4]

The1904 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofEugene Elliott Reed, who defeated Charles J. Brygger and James E. Reed.^[4]

The1906 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofDemocratic incumbentEugene Elliott Reed to a third consecutive term. Reed defeatedRepublican candidate Charles E. Cox and Socialist candidate Samuel F. Claflin.^[4]

The1908 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofDemocratic incumbentEugene Elliott Reed to a fourth consecutive term. Reed defeatedRepublican candidate Lloyd T. Mead, Socialist candidate John C. Paine, andindependent candidate George W. Rief.^[4]

The1910 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofEdward Clarke Smith, who defeated James Sullivan.^[4]

The1912 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofDemocratic candidateCharles C. Hayes, who defeatedRepublican candidate Victor W. Roy,Progressive candidate Lloyd T. Mead, Socialist candidate William J. Ryan.^[4]

1914 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1912 December 8, 1914 1916 →

Candidate Harry W. Spaulding Charles C. Hayes Party Republican Democratic

Mayor before election Charles C. Hayes Democratic Elected mayor Harry W. Spaulding Republican

The1914 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on December 8, 1914,^[6] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofRepublicanHarry W. Spaulding, who defeatedDemocratic incumbentCharles C. Hayes and Socialist candidate William J. Ryan.^[5][4] Sapulding won by a margin of 386 votes.^[6] The election was considered one of the most hotly contested elections in years.^[6]

In the coinciding Board ofAldermen election, the Republican Party won full control of the board, winning seven of the board's nine seats.^[6]

1915 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1914 November 2, 1915 1917 →

Candidate Harry W. Spaulding Charles C. Hayes Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 5,306 4,284

Mayor before election Harry W. Spaulding Republican Elected mayor Harry W. Spaulding Republican

The1915 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 2, 1915,^[7] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofRepublican candidateHarry W. Spaulding, who defeatedDemocratic candidateCharles C. Hayes (himself a former mayor) and Socialist candidate James E. Dorren.^[5][4] Spaulding's margin of victory was significantly greater than his margin of victory in the previous 1914 mayoral election.^[8]

In the coinciding Board ofAldermen election, the Republican Party won ten of the thirteen seats on the board.^[8][9] Also, notably, the Republican incumbent was elected the city's overseer of the poor against a Democratic challenger in that office's coinciding election.^[8]

1917 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1915 November 6, 1917 1919 →

Candidate Moise Verrette Harry W. Spaulding Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 5,440 4,012 Percentage 57.55% 42.45%

Mayor before election Harry W. Spaulding Republican Elected mayor Moise Verrette Democratic

The1917 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 6, 1917,^[10] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofDemocratic candidateMoise Verrette, who unseatedRepublican incumbentHarry W. Spaulding.^[5][4]

In the municipal elections held in the city on November 6, Democrats won overall control of the city's government for the first time in 42 years.^[10] Democrats nearly swept all of the city's elections, winning not just the mayoralty, but also control of all of the city's commissions and public service boards, as well as the offices of auditor, collector, city clerk, engineer, messenger, physician, sealer, solicitor, superintendent of buildings, treasurer, and weigher. Democrats also won numerous municipal clerkships.^[11]

The1919 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofDemocratic incumbentMoise Verrette, who defeated Andrew B. Bunton.

In theDemocratic primary, held on October 23, 1921, incumbent mayorMoise Verrette won renomination over challenger Charles D. Ward by a large margin. More than 3,300 votes were cast in the primary.^[12]

Democratic incumbentMoise Verrette defeated Andrew B. Bunton.^[4]

The1921 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 8, 1921,^[13] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofRepublican nomineeGeorge E. Trudel, who defeatedDemocratic nominee John L. Barry by a roughly 4,000-vote margin.

This was the first mayoral election in Manchester since the ratification of theNineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, whichgranted women suffrage across the entire United States. Consequently, it was first Manchester mayoral election in which women voted.^{[citation needed]}

TheDemocratic primary was held October 17, 1921.^[14]

George E. Trudel won theRepublican primary, held on October 10, 1921.^[14] Trudel was a successful businessman and an incumbent member of theExecutive Council of New Hampshire underGovernorAlbert O. Brown. Trudel had never before run for office.^[14] Among those he defeated in the primary was former mayorEdward Clarke Smith.^[14]

Republican nomineeGeorge E. Trudel, defeated Democratic nominee John L. Barry by a roughly 4,000-vote margin.^[4][13]

The1923 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 1, 1923,^[15] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofRepublican incumbentGeorge E. Trudel, who defeatedDemocratic challenger John L. Barry.^[4] The campaign was described by the Groton Times as one of the city's "most stirring" election campaigns in years.^[15]

Democratic nominee John L. Barry was a former Manchesteralderman, and had been Trudel's opponent in the previous 1921 election. While he again lost to Trudel, Barry did manage to cut Trudel's margin of victory by nearly half compared to the previous election.^[16]

In the coinciding Board of Aldermen election, Republicans retained their control of the board.^[15] The Republicans also nearly swept the races for citywide offices, with the exception of charity commissioner (which saw a Democratic incumbent reelected).

The1925 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 3, 1925,^[17] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofRepublican nomineeAndrew E. Moreau, who defeatedDemocratic nominee Timothy F. Conner andindependent candidate Adolph Wagner.

In the coinciding Board ofAldermen election, Republicans retained their majority of the board,^[17] with Republicans winning eight seats and Democrats winning five.^[18]

In the October 19caucus for theRepublican nomination,Andrew E. Moreau, a member of theNew Hampshire Executive Council, won the party's nomination over cityalderman Adolph Wagner.^[19]

Republican nomineeAndrew E. Moreau defeated Democratic nominee Timothy F. Conner andindependent candidate Adolph Wagner (the latter of whom had, before becoming an independent candidate, unsuccessfully run for the Republican nomination).^[4] Wagner won a strongplurality of the vote.^[21]

Democratic nominee Conner was an attorney.^[17]

The campaign was later described by theGroton Times as, "one of the most stirring" three-way races "in recent years".^[21]

When it was a two-candidate campaign between Moreau and Conner, the general election had originally been seen as a likely victory for Moreau. However, upon the entrance of alderman Adolph Wagner as an independent candidate, the race began to be considered a tossup between Moreau and Conner.^[17]

The1927 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 8, 1927,^[22] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofRepublican incumbentAndrew E. Moreau, who defeated state senator William G. McCarthy, theDemocratic nominee.^[22]

In the coinciding municipal elections, the Republican nominee won a surprise victory in the race for commissioner of charities, and the Republican Party also increased its majority on the Board ofAldermen by a single seat (now holding nine of the board's ten seats) by unseating a ten-year incumbent.^[23]

The1929 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 5, 1929,^[24] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofRepublican incumbentAndrew E. Moreau to a third consecutive term. Moreau defeatedDemocratic nominee C. J. Belanger.^[24]

In the city's coinciding Board ofAldermen election, the Republicans won nine of the board's thirteen seats, the same exact majority they had held before the election.^[24]

The1931 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 3, 1931, to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofDemocratic nomineeDamase Caron, who unseatedRepublican incumbentArthur E. Moreau by a roughly 1,500-vote margin of victory.^[25] Caron's victory was viewed as alandslide victory.^[26]

Caron was a local physician.^[25]

Coinciding elections in the city, as well as much of the region, saw significant wins for Democrats, proving to be a regionalwave election.^[26] This included Democrats gaining the majority of the city's Board ofAldermen.^[25] Also, a coincidingreferendum saw the voters approve limited hours of sports and amusements to take place on Sundays, partially rolling-back the city'sblue laws.^[25][27]

The1933 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 7, 1933,^[28] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofDemocratic incumbentDamase Caron, who defeatedRepublican nominee John Jacobson Jr. by a margin of 2,924 votes.^[29]

On the eve of the election, thePortsmouth Herald described the campaign as having been "lively", and wrote that the result was expected to be very close.^[30]

In the coinciding municipal elections, the Democratic Party won a majority of eleven of the thirteen seats on the city's Board ofAldermen (with Republicans winning the remaining two), and the Democratic incumbent commissioner of charities won reelection over their Republican opponent by alandslide 7,055 vote margin.^[29]

The1935 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 5, 1935,^[31] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofDemocratic incumbentDamase Caron to a third consecutive term. Caron defeated formerpostmaster Joseph H. Geisel, theRepublican nominee, by a margin of roughly 3,300 votes. This was considered alandslide victory. At the time, this margin of victory was the greatest any Democrat had ever won in a Manchester mayoral election.^[32]

In the coinciding municipal elections, the Democratic Party won a majority of ten of the thirteen seats on the city's Board ofAldermen.^[32]

The1937 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 3, 1937,^[33] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofDemocratic incumbentDamase Caron to a fourth consecutive term. Caron defeatedRepublican nominee Gerard A. Hamel.^[33] He won by a vote margin even greater than his previous win, thus, setting a new record for the greatest margin of victory any Democrat had won in terms of vote numbers for a Manchester mayoral election.^[32][33]

In the previous two years, Caron had helped lead the city through turbulent times, being credited with helping to diversify its economy with smaller industrial operations in the aftermath of the bankruptcy of theAmoskeag Manufacturing Company, a major employer in the city.^[33][34]

The1939 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 7, 1939, to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofDemocratic incumbentDamase Caron to a fifth consecutive term. Caron defeated Caron defeatedRepublican nomineeWilfred A. LaFlamme.^[35] Caron was the first mayor of the city to win a fifth consecutive term.^[5][4] Caron won by a 903-vote margin of victory, which was significantly smaller than the margins he had won his previous four elections by.

In the initial vote count, Caron won by a 1,009 vote margin of victory. However, on November 22, the city's Board ofAldermen approved a petition by the Republican City Committee torecount the vote in the city's ninth ward, where a discrepancy had the mayoral vote totals exceed the number of ballots cast by 74. The results of this recount were announced on November 29, and saw Caron's margin of victory decreased to 903 votes.^[35][36]

The1941 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 4, 1941,^[37] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It sawRepublican nomineeWilfred A. LaFlamme unseat five-termDemocratic incumbentDamase Caron.^[4][37] The race was a rematch of the previous election.^[4]

In the initial count, LaFlamme had a lead of 638 votes.^[37] After arecount of the city's municipal elections was held, LaFlamme's final margin of victory over Caron was 618 votes.

The1943 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 2, 1943,^[38] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It sawDemocratic nomineeJosephat T. Benoit unseat first-termRepublican incumbentWilfred A. Laflamme.^[4] Benoit won election by a 1,229 vote margin of victory.^[39] Benoit's win was considered anupset victory.^[38]

Before resigning to run for mayor, Benoit had been the editor of the local French language newspaperL'Avenir National.^[38]

The1945 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 6, 1945,^[40] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofDemocratic incumbentJosephat T. Benoit, who defeatedRepublican nominee Leo F. Donnelly. Benoit won by a large margin.^[40]

After the coinciding Board ofAldermen election, control of the board belonged to the Democrats. The election also coincided with aschool board election.^[40]

The1947 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 4, 1947, to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofDemocratic incumbentJosephat T. Benoit to a third consecutive term. Benoit defeatedRepublican nominee Albert W. Hamel.^[3]

The1949 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 8, 1949,^[41] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofDemocratic incumbentJosephat T. Benoit to a fourth consecutive term. Benoit defeatedRepublican nominee Edward F. Fitzgerald.^[3]

Election forecasters had correctly anticipated a Benoit victory.^[41]

Republican nominee Fitzgerald had previously run unsuccessfully forNew Hampshire Governor's Council in 1938.^[42]

The1951 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 6, 1951,^[43] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofDemocratic incumbentJosephat T. Benoit to a fifth consecutive term. Benoit defeatedRepublican nominee James L. Mahony.^[3]

Election forecasters had anticipated an easy Benoit victory.^[43] However, he wound up only winning by a 664 margin.^[44]

The election coincided withschool board, selectmen, and Board ofAldermen elections in the city.^[43]

1953 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1951 November 3, 1953 1955 →

Candidate Josephat T. Benoit Alphonse Roy Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan

Mayor before election Josephat T. Benoit Democratic Elected mayor Josephat T. Benoit Democratic

The1953 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 3, 1953,^[45] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayorJosephat T. Benoit to a sixth consecutive term. Benoit defeated formerUnited States congressmanAlphonse Roy.^[3] Benoit was the first, and is so far the only, mayor in the city's history to win election to a sixth term.^[3][5]

The election was the first election to be held under new rules which saw municipal elections become nonpartisan.^[3]

The1955 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 7, 1955,^[46] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayorJosephat T. Benoit to a seventh consecutive term. Benoit defeated James B. Sullivan and Clemens Martell.^[46]

The election was formally nonpartisan.^[4]

The1957 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 5, 1957, to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayorJosephat T. Benoit to an eighth consecutive term. Benoit defeated Peter Poirier.^[3]

The election was officially nonpartisan.^[3]

The1959 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 3, 1959, to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayorJosephat T. Benoit to a ninth consecutive term. Benoit's challenger,John C. Mongan, a telephone company executive, ran a serious campaign against to him.^[47]

The election was officially nonpartisan.^[3]

The1961 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 7, 1961,^[48] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofRepublican nomineeJohn C. Mongan, who defeatedDemocratic nominee Roger E. Brassard.^[3]

The election was the first to be run by new rules which saw the shift back to partisan municipal elections, after the past four mayoral elections had been nonpartisan.^[3]

Mongan had earlier run in the previous 1959 mayoral election.^[3]

Mongan's victory was a surpriseupset victory. At the time, the city was overwhelmingly Democratic-leaning (with Democrats being believed to outnumber Republicans by a 2–1 margin).^[49]

The1963 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 5, 1963, to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofDemocratic nomineeRoland S. Vallee, who defeated incumbentRepublican mayorJohn C. Mongan.^[3] Vallee won by a roughly 2,200 vote margin.^[50]

1965 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1963 November 3, 1965 1967 →

Candidate Roland S. Vallee Paul M. Martel Party Democratic Republican

Mayor before election Roland S. Vallee Democratic Elected mayor Roland S. Vallee Democratic

The1965 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 3, 1965, to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofDemocratic incumbentRoland S. Vallee, who defeatedRepublican nominee Paul M. Martel.^[3] Vallee won by a 4,838 margin of victory.^[51]

1967 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1965 November 8, 1967 1969 →

Candidate John C. Mongan Roland S. Vallee Party Republican Democratic

Mayor before election Roland S. Vallee Democratic Elected mayor John C. Mongan Republican

The1967 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 8, 1967, to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofRepublicanJohn C. Mongan to a second nonconsecutive term, unseating incumbent two-termDemocratic mayorRoland S. Vallee.^[3] Mongan's victory was regarded to be anupset.^[52]

In the initial count, Mongan won by a merely 37 vote margin, and Vallee requested arecount.^[53] After the recount, Mongan's margin of victory increased to 51 votes. Valleeconceded. After the recount, mayor-elect Mongan did admit that he believed that there had been balloting irregularities, but also stated the did not want to "burden the taxpayers with the cost of another recount".^[54]

Vallee's loss was attributed to allegations that he had manipulated lowertax assessments on his own buildings.^[55]

Mongan and Vallee had previously faced each other four years earlier in the 1963 mayoral race.^[3]

1969 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1967 November 4, 1969 1971 →

Candidate Henry J. Pariseau Roland S. Vallee Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 19,875 11,202 Percentage 63.95% 36.05%

Mayor before election John C. Mongan Republican Elected mayor Henry J. Pariseau Republican

The1969 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 4, 1969, to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofRepublicanHenry J. Pariseau, defeatingDemocratic nomineeRoland S. Vallee (a former mayor of the city). Incumbent Republican mayorJohn C. Mongan had lost renomination to Pariseau in the Republicanprimary.

Former mayorRoland Vallee was the winner of a three-way race in aDemocraticprimary election in which 11,000 votes were cast.^[56]

Incumbent mayorJohn C. Mongan, who was serving his second nonconsecutive term, lost his attempt at renomination in the October 7Republican primary election toHenry J. Pariseau. Pariseau, a first-time candidate for elected office, was both a businessman and the city's fire commissioner, and had actually been Mongan'scampaign manager in the city's 1961 mayoral election.^[56][57][58]

The primary featured a total of three candidates.^[58] Pariseau defeated Mongan by an 883 margin.^[57]

The general election saw Pariseau defeat Vallee.^[3] Pariseau led the vote in each of the city's 14 wards.^[55]

Despite the state's Tax Commission having, earlier in the year, cleared Vallee of charges that he has manipulated lowertax assessments on his own properties, Pariseau used the allegations in his portrayal of Vallee as someone voters could not trust.^[55]

While their mayoral nominee handily lost, the Democratic Party performed well in the coinciding election for Board ofAldermen, increasing their majority by a single seat to hold 12 of the board's 14 seats.^[55]

1971 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1969 November 2, 1971 1973 →

Candidate Sylvio Dupuis Frank Wageman Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 16,260 15,859 Percentage 50.62% 49.38%

Mayor before election Charles R. Stanton Democratic Elected mayor Sylvio Dupuis Democratic

The1971 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 2, 1971,^[59] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofDemocratic nomineeSylvio Dupuis, who defeatedRepublicanalderman Frank Wageman.

Incumbent mayorCharles R. Stanton, who had been appointed by the city's Board ofAldermen after the death in office ofHarry Pariseau, did not seek to a full term.^[59]

During the October 5primary elections, three election officials were arrested with charges of "official misconduct". Due to the misconduct, the results of the city's fourth ward were declared void, and the Board ofAldermen and mayor called for a special election in the ward to allow a re-vote. However, both the winners of the initial result of both party's primaries had already won by large enough margins in the other wards that the results of the fourth ward would not change the outcome of the mayoral primary.^[60]

In theDemocratic primary,optometristSylvio Dupuis defeatedNew Hampshire state senators George Morrissette and William McCarthy, as Alphonse Bledeau, Lloyd Basinow, and Angela Lafond.^[60] Dupuis had a 5,353 margin of victory over runner-up Morrissette.^[61]

In theRepublican primary, longtime alderman and insurance executive Frank Wageman defeated former city Republican Party chairman Gerald Carmen.^[59][60] Wageman won by a 2,047 margin of victory over Carmen.^[61]

While the city was overwhelmingly Democratic (with registered Democrats outnumbering registered Republicans by 2–1), the election was predicted to be close, with Dupuis only having a slight advantage.^[59]

1973 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1971 November 6, 1973 1975 →

Candidate Sylvio Dupuis Frank Wageman Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 19,874 2,657 Percentage 88.21% 11.79%

Mayor before election Sylvio Dupuis Democratic Elected mayor Sylvio Dupuis Democratic

The1973 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 6, 1973,^[62] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection of incumbentDemocratSylvio Dupuis, who defeatedRepublican nominee Norman Gauthier in alandslide victory.

Primary elections for theDemocratic andRepublican parties were held on October 2. Incumbent mayorSylvio Dupuis ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Norman Gauthier defeated Lloyd Basinow in the Republican primary.^[3][62]

1975 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1973 November 4, 1975 1977 →

Candidate Charles R. Stanton George Lacourse Lloyd Basinow Party Democratic Republican Independent Popular vote 15,044 2,465 2,232 Percentage 76.21% 12.49% 11.31%

Mayor before election Charles R. Stanton Democratic Elected mayor Charles R. Stanton Democratic

The1975 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 4, 1975,^[64] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofDemocratic incumbentCharles R. Stanton, who had been appointed mayor after the resignation ofSylvio Dupuis.^[5][64] Stanton defeatedRepublican nominee George Lacourse andindependent candidate Lloyd Basinow in alandslide victory.

1977 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1975 November 8, 1977 1979 →

Candidate Charles R. Stanton Richard Jacobs Party Democratic Republican

Mayor before election Charles R. Stanton Democratic Elected mayor Charles R. Stanton Democratic

The1977 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 8, 1977, to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofDemocratic incumbentCharles R. Stanton, who defeatedRepublican nominee Richard Jacobs. Stanton won by a 3–1 margin of victory.^[65]

Jacobs alleged that Stanton and his mayoral administration were guilty of wrongdoing. This argument was undercut days prior to the election whenNew Hampshire attorney generalDavid Souter disclosed that an investigation had failed to find any criminal activity.^[66]

1979 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1975 November 6, 1979 1979 →

Candidate Charles R. Stanton Henry Naro Party Democratic Republican

Mayor before election Charles R. Stanton Democratic Elected mayor Charles R. Stanton Democratic

The1979 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 6, 1979,^[67] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofDemocratic incumbentCharles R. Stanton to a third consecutive full term (he had also previously served two partial terms). Stanton defeatedNew Hampshire state representative Henry NaroRepublican nominee.^[5][3][67]

The city was considered a Democratic stronghold.^[67]

Among those who had unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination wasRobert F. Shaw.^[68]

1981 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1979 November 3, 1981 1983 →
Turnout	59.88%
Candidate Emile Beaulieu Richard Jacobs Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 13,429 9,662 Percentage 56.35% 40.54%
Mayor before election Charles R. Stanton Democratic Elected mayor Emile Beaulieu Democratic

The1981 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 3, 1981, to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. The election was won by city welfare commissionerEmile Beaulieu, theDemocratic nominee. Beaulieu defeated publishing executive Richard Jacobs, the Republican nominee. Turnout in the election was significantly higher than recent preceding elections.^[69]

While Democrats outnumbered Republicans in the city by a 2–1 margin, inthe previous year's presidential election, the Republicanticket ofRonald Reagan andGeorge H. W. Bush had managed to outperform the Democratic ticket ofJimmy Carter andWalter Mondale by a 2–1 margin in the city.^[70]

In addition to retaining the mayoralty, Democrats also increased their majority on the city's Board ofAldermen by a seat, now holding 9 out of the 12 seats on the board.^[69]

1983 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1981 November 8, 1983 1985 →

Candidate Robert F. Shaw Emile Beaulieu Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 53% 47%

Mayor before election Emile Beaulieu Democratic Elected mayor Robert F. Shaw Republican

The1983 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 8, 1983, to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofRepublican nomineeRobert F. Shaw, who unseated first-termDemocratic incumbentEmile Beaulieu by a roughly 1,400 vote margin (53% to 47%).^[71] Shaw's win was considered to be a surpriseupset victory.^[71][68] Shaw was the first Republican to be elected mayor in the city in twelve years.^[71]

Shaw managed to perform strongly in wards of the city the traditionally voted Democratic.^[68] He centered his campaign on attacking Beaulieu's spending record.^[68] Shaw was agas station owner with no prior experience in public office.^[70] He had previously run unsuccessfully for the Democratic mayoral nomination in 1979.^[68]

Before the election, Beaulieu had been perceived as a popular incumbent. Many of the candidates running in the1984 Democratic Party presidential primaries had been courting his endorsement, with several of their campaigns even having their staff support Bealieu's reelection effort by holding signs outside polling places on election day. Presidential contenderGary Hart even went as far as to attend Beaulieu's election night party.^[70]

1985 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1983 November 5, 1985 1987 →

Candidate Robert F. Shaw Peter Poirier Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 11,847 8,028 Percentage 59.61% 40.39%

Mayor before election Robert F. Shaw Republican Elected mayor Robert F. Shaw Republican

The1985 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 5, 1985,^[72] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofRepublican incumbentRobert F. Shaw, who defeatedDemocratic nominee Peter Poirier. The election was considered to have had goodvoter turnout.^[72]

While, in its lead up, the election had failed to garner much attention from local voters, the election was treated by the state's Democratic Party as a paramount contest. In 1984, New Hampshire had seen the Democratic Party have what was considered its worst statewide election performance since at least the year 1900, with Republicans sweeping all of the top offices (winningthe governorship, bothUnited States House of Representatives seats, aUnited States Senate seat, and all five seats on theExecutive Council), and with Republicans also winning the largest majority their party had won in theNew Hampshire House of Representatives since 1900.^[73] At the time, some political analysts even predicted the state might be trending away from being aswing state, and instead towards being a state dominated by the Republican party. With the Democratic Party hoping to stage a comeback in the state, they wanted a win in the state's largest city, which could at least act as a morale boost to the state's Democratic faithful. The Democrats promoted the race as the prospective launching pad for their comeback in the state. Quite unusually for a local election, the state party fundraised for it.^[73] Poirier himself portrayed his performance in the election as "vitally important" to the state's Democratic Party.^[74] In late October, Michael Kranish of theBoston Globe wrote, "While a Democratic victory in thisblue-collar city would hardly sway the political winds in the rest of the state, it would at least be a psychological boost for the party faithful. There are even those who fear a Democratic Party defeat might damage the party beyond repair."^[73]

State Democratic leadership was not alone in putting value on the election, with state Republican leaders also putting value on it, including having governorJohn Sununu hold a fundraiser for Shaw's reelection campaign.^[73] John Burns, the executive director of theRepublican Party of New Hampshire, publicly admitted that he believed, "it would be a setback of sorts if we lost the race."^[74]

At the time of the election, the city's electorate was strongly Democratic by registration, with roughly 24,000 registered Democrats, 13,000 registered Republicans, and 13,000 independents. The city had, before to Shaw's 1983 victory, been considered reliable territory for Democrats to win the mayoralty.^[73]

In addition to being the incumbent mayor, Shaw was the owner of agas station.^[74] Poirier was a teacher andbasketball coach of twenty years who had never before held public office. He had previously run unsuccessfully for the New Hampshire Executive Council (which his own father had once been a member of).^[74] In his unsuccessful bid for the state's Executive Council, he had managed to carry the vote of the city of Manchester.^[74]

During the general election, both candidates stated they were anticipating a close race.^[74]

During the general election, both candidates made criticisms and negative accusations of their opponent in media advertisements.^[74] Poirier portrayed Shaw as being an ill-temperedautocrat that intended on increasingproperty taxes without making improvements to city services.^[74] In the final week of the campaign, Shaw ran a full-page newspaper advertisement which accused Shaw of using his office to secure a $100,000 profit in a real estate deal. Shaw accused Poirier of practicing "slime" politics with this attack, and said he would sue him for it.^[72]

In an inverse of the traditional positions seen in New Hampshire elections at the time, in this election the Republican was in support of a hike in property taxes while the Democrat pledged against making any tax increase.^[73] While Shaw had made a 1983 pledge not to raise taxes, he supported a tax increase in 1985, saying, "I could not in good conscience produce a political budget just to win this election."^[74]

1987 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1985 November 3, 1987 1989 →

Candidate Emile Beaulieu Raymond Wieczorek Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 10,194 9,835 Percentage 50.90% 49.10%

Mayor before election Robert F. Shaw Republican Elected mayor Emile Beaulieu Democratic

The1987 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 2, 1971,^[59] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw voters return former mayorEmile Beaulieu, aDemocrat, to office for a second nonconsecutive term. Beaulieu narrowly defeatedRepublican nomineeRaymond Wieczorek by a margin of 359 votes.

Two-term incumbent Republican mayorRobert F. Shaw declined to seek reelection to instead focus on his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the1988 New Hampshire gubernatorial election.^[76]

Primary elections were held on September 15.^[77]

In theDemocratic primary, former mayorEmile Beaulieu defeatedalderman Fernand Gelinas.^[77]

Bealieu had successfully damaged Gelinas candidacy after alleging that a supporter of Gelinas of campaign irregularities, filing a complaint with the attorney general's office. While the attorney general's office would find no wrongdoing, this conclusion came long after the primary election had already taken place.^[78]

Raymond Wieczorek, a former insurance salesman andUnited Way chairman, ran unopposed in theRepublican primary.^[77]

The election campaign was considered to be relatively uneventful and low-key.^[80]

Beaulieu ran on his record in government, and proclaimed, "I support an open, honest government, with an open-door policy".^[80][81] Beaulieu's top issues were providing adequate police and fire protection, and enabling the city's departments and boards to operate with minimal interference from his mayoral administration.^[81] In the time since his previous term as mayor had ended, Beaulieu had served as president and board member of theEaster Seal Society andGoodwill Industries.^[81] He had also been the incorporator of the New Hampshire Workshop for the Blind and a member of the New HampshireRight to Life Committee (ananti-abortion group).^[81] Bealieu also worked in the business of carpet sales.^[82] Beaulieu's past political experience in state and local government were seen as giving him an advantage in the election.^[82]

Wieczorek, an insurance businessman,^[80] ran on the idea that the city should be run like a business. He argued that Manchester would have better fiscal management if the city government's individual departments were given annual goals to achieve, and if they worked together towards a shared goal.^[81] Contrary to the hands-off approach Beaulieu was proposing to take with the city's departments and boards if elected, Wieczorek stated that he planned to have an active role in the operations of them.^[81] Wieczorek stated that, as mayor, he would work to develop a nonadversarial working relationship with the city's Board of Aldermen.^[81] He proposed, for the year 1989, having atax cap of 3% and total budget expenditures of 5%.^[81] Wieczorek also placed an emphasis on addressing the population growth the city was undergoing, primarily the increases in services that would be demanded by this growth.^[81] Wieczorek had served as both president of the Manchester Housing Authority and president ofUnited Way of Great Manchester, in addition to being involved in the Greater Manchester Human Services Council and Manchester Exchange Club.^[81]

The election was considered surprisingly narrow for a city in which registered Democrats significantly outnumbered registered Republicans.^[76] The city had more than 23,000 registered Democrats, 13,500 registered Republicans, and 9,401 registered independents.^[80] Manchester was considered to be the sole Democratic stronghold in what was, at the time, considered to be a solidly Republican state.^[77]

The election coincided with other municipal elections, including those for welfare commissioner, Board ofAldermen, andschool board.^[81][3] In the coinciding election, Democrats secured a 9 to 12 majority over Democrats on the Board of Aldermen.^[82]

1989 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1987 November 7, 1989 1991 →

Candidate Raymond Wieczorek Emile Beaulieu Fernand Gelinas Party Republican Democratic Independent

Mayor before election Emile Beaulieu Democratic Elected mayor Raymond Wieczorek Republican

The1989 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 7, 1989, to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofRepublican nomineeRaymond Wieczorek, who unseatedDemocratic incumbentEmile Beaulieu by margin of 1,639 votes. The election was a rematch of the 1987 contest between the two. Additionally, Fernand Gelinas ran as anindependent candidate.

Primary elections were held on September 19.^[79]

In theDemocratic primary, incumbentEmile Beaulieu narrowly won renomination, with a mere 60 vote margin overalderman andNew Hampshire State Representative Leona Dykstra, the closest of his two challengers in the primary.^[79][84][85]

Dykstra strongly attacked Beaulieu for the city'sproperty tax increase. Bealieu blamed his Republican predecessor,Robert F. Shaw, for the increase.^[79] Bealieu's defense came despite the fact that he actually supported the 1988 budget that led to a 17.7% property tax increase during the first year of his term, and that, before leaving office, his predecessor Shaw was actually going to veto this budget.^[85]

Dystra pledged to implement zero-based budgeting if elected mayor, which was the method already used by the state government in which it made departments prove claims that they needed more funding.^[79] Dykstra also supported charging developersimpact fees for infrastructure improvements demanded by their developments.^[79]

In the lead up to the election, Bealieu and Dykstra found themselves taking positions on opposing sides of a number of matters.^[79] For instance, Dykstra had, around the time of her campaign, she cast a vote against the Board of Alderman allowing the city to potentially issue a $13 million bond to fund an undergroundparking garage for the controversial proposed Market Square development. Since her vote caused a tie, Bealieu cast a tiebreaking vote, voting in favor of giving the city the option to issue this bond. This vote put them on record as siding on opposite sides of this matter^[79]

Despite rainy weather (adrizzle), the primary managed to see roughly 35% turnout among the city's registered Democrats.^[79] Turnout had been particularly strong in the city's 6th ward, which was Dkystra's own ward (Dykstra carried that ward by a strong margin).^[79]

In theRepublican primary,Raymond Wieczorek, who had been the party's nominee in 1987 (which he narrowly lost to Beaulieu) ran unopposed.^[79] Wieczorek was an insurance salesman and the former chairman of the city Republican Party.^[85] He had previously served as the head of the Manchester Housing Authority.^[78]

Throughout the general election, incumbent Beaulieu was seen as facing a very strong challenge from Wieczorek.^[79][85]

The increase in property taxes continued to be a damaging issue for Bealieu.^[85] Other subjects discussed by the candidates included includewaste disposal, a potential expansion ofthe city's airport, and development in the city's downtown.^[85]

Beaulieu attacked Wieczorek by alleging that, during Wieczorek's three-year tenure as head of the Manchester Housing Authority, the agency saw its budget increase by 28%.^[78]

Democrat Fernand Gelinas ran as anindependent candidate. He was seen as a potentialspoiler for Democrats, and won 2,384 votes (which, indeed, was greater than the margin by which Bealieu had lost) by.^[79][86] Gelinas ran a low-key low-budget campaign, but was very active in appearing on the campaign trail.^[78] He had goodname recognition.^[78]

Wieczorek defeated Beaulieu by a margin of 1,639 votes.^[86]

1991 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1989 November 5, 1991 1993 →

Candidate Raymond Wieczorek John J. McDonough Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 12,960 7,542 Percentage 63.21% 36.79%

Mayor before election Raymond Wieczorek Republican Elected mayor Raymond Wieczorek Republican

The1991 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 5, 1991,^[87] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofRepublican incumbentRaymond Wieczorek, who won alandslide victory overHillsborough County commissioner John J. McDonough, who was theDemocratic nominee.

Primary elections were held on September 17. A combined 27% of voters cast votes in the primaries, which was approximately 5% lower than the average of recent previous elections.^[88]

Hillsborough County commissioner^[87] John J. McDonough ran unopposed in theDemocratic primary, and incumbent mayorRaymond Wieczorek ran unopposed in theRepublican primary.^[88]

The impacts of theearly 1990s recession on the city were seen as being a drag on Weiczorek's reelection hopes. Accordingly, McDonough attacked Weizcorek on the economic downturn in the city.^[89] While Weiczorek claimed to have made some economic progress, McDonnough claimed this was untrue.^[90]

Both candidates had signed an agreement not to use negative campaign tactics. When McDonough's campaign both accused Wieczorek of having "lied to the voters" and ran an ad which accused Weiczorek of pushing to delay the distribution oftax bills until after election day to aid his reelection chances (which Weiczorek refuted as being a "blatant lie"), Wieczorek registered a complaint with theLeague of Women Voters, accusing McDonough of having violated this agreement.^[89] McDonough denied that he was engaging in negative campaigning.^[89]

Weiczorek admitted to his failure to actualize his plan to cut the city budget and identify cost savings had been unsuccessful, but defended himself by saying, "I certainly tried through." He characterized the budget he had been left by his Democratic predecessorEmile Beaulieu as having been a "political one" with sizeable gaps in spending that required resolving, and with labor contracts he lacked the power to change without the consent of the Democratic-majority Board ofAldermen.^[89][90]

Weiczorek pledged to provide more police protection to areas suffering from crime.^[90] He also took credit for increasing the size of the police force by 17 officers. McDonough called into question whether that was an accurate number.^[89] McDonough laid blame for an increase in crime with Wieczorek.^[91]

Weiczorek claimed responsibility for helping convince some employers to remain in the city's downtown, and gave himself credit for the construction of a newindustrial park and of the 20-floorNYNEX office building being constructed in the city. McDonough, however, asserted that the mayor did not have anything to do with the NYNEX building, and instead argued that the credit lied with Wieczorek's Democratic predecessor.^[89][90] Wieczorek pledged to keep the city's tax rate stable.^[90] McDonough blamed Wieczorek for a rise in city taxes.

Weiczorek proposed a five-year capital plan to fund upgrades and reconstruction of roads, bridges,sewers, and water systems.^[90]

McDonough promised to lobby companies to move to the city. His plans included hiring a new coordinator in charge of the recruitment of new business and industry to the city, a job which he said had been vacant for over a year.^[89] However, McDonough spent the bulk of his campaign assailing Wieczorek's record, rather than focusing on his own plans for the city.^[89] He derided the record of accomplishments that Wieczorek claimed to have as, "phony".^[90]

Wieczorek criticized McDonough's record as a county commissioner, including attacking McDonough for supporting a $1.7 million pay increase for employees of the county, and for supporting additions to the county budget which Wieczorek characterized as, "skyrocketing".^[90]

Manchester was regarded to be a Democratic Party stronghold.^[89]

Weiczorek's reelection was considered to be alandslide victory.^[87]

1993 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1991 November 2, 1993 1995 →

Candidate Raymond Wieczorek Robert H. Dennis Party Republican Democratic

Mayor before election Raymond Wieczorek Republican Elected mayor Raymond Wieczorek Republican

The1993 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 2, 1993, to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofRepublican incumbentRaymond Wieczorek to a third consecutive term. Wieczorek won alandslide 2–1 victory overalderman Robert H. Dennis, who was theDemocratic nominee.

Primary elections were held on September 21.^[92]

Two-termalderman^[93] Robert H. Dennis defeated 1991 Democratic nominee John J. McDonough in theDemocratic primary, and incumbent mayorRaymond Wieczorek ran unopposed in theRepublican primary.^[92][94]

Raymond Wieczorek defeated Robert H. Dennis by a 2–1 margin.^[93]

In the coinciding election for the city's Board of Aldermen, for the first time in over six decades, the Republican Party won majority control of the board. Wieczorek, who had battled with the Democratic-majority Board of Aldermen over his two terms as mayor, encouraged city voters to support Republican candidates for the board.^[95]

1995 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1993 November 7, 1995 1997 →

Nominee Raymond Wieczorek Robert F. Shaw Party Republican Democratic Popular vote Percentage 59.8% 37.7%

Mayor before election Raymond Wieczorek Republican Elected mayor Raymond Wieczorek Republican

The1995 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 7, 1995,^[96] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection of incumbentRepublicanRaymond Wieczorek to a fourth consecutive term.^[96] Wieczorek defeatedDemocratic nomineeRobert F. Shaw (who had formerly been a Republican mayor of the city from 1984 through 1987) andLibertarian nominee Robert Howe.^[5][4][96]

This was the final partisan mayoral election in the city.^[4]

1997 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1995 November 4, 1997 1999 →

Nominee Raymond Wieczorek Robert F. Shaw Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Popular vote 12,441 7,821 Percentage 61.40% 38.60%

Mayor before election Raymond Wieczorek Republican Elected mayor Raymond Wieczorek Republican

The1997 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 4, 1997, to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the reelection ofRaymond Wieczorek to a fifth consecutive term.

The election was the first to be held under new rules in which the election was formally nonpartisan.^[4]

Before the general election, a nonpartisanprimary election was held in September to determine the two candidates who would appear on the general election ballot.^[97] The general and primary elections both coincided with those for the Manchester Board ofAldermen and the city'sschool board.^[97]

Wieczorek and Shaw had also faced each other in the previous election.

• Robert F. Shaw, former mayor (1984–1987), candidate for the Republican nomination in the1988 New Hampshire gubernatorial election, andDemocratic nominee in the 1995 mayoral election^[4][98]
• Raymond J. Wieczorek, mayor since 1990^[5]

While the election was nonpartisan, some candidates had publicly known partisan affiliations. Shaw was a knownDemocrat.^[5] Wieczorek was a knownRepublican.^[5]

Primary election
Robert F. Shaw and Raymond Wieczorek won the primary.^[97]

General election

1999 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election

← 1997 November 2, 1999 2001 →

Nominee Robert A. Baines Raymond Wieczorek Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Popular vote 12,159 11,327 Percentage 51.77% 48.23%

Mayor before election Raymond Wieczorek Republican Elected mayor Robert A. Baines Democratic

The1999 Manchester, New Hampshire, mayoral election was held on November 2, 1999,^[100] to elect themayor ofManchester, New Hampshire. It saw the election ofRobert A. Baines, who unseated fifth-term incumbent mayorRaymond Wieczorek.

The election was formally nonpartisan.^[100]

Before the general election, a nonpartisanprimary election was held on September 21, 1999, to determine the two candidates who would appear on the general election ballot.^[101] The general and primary elections both coincided with those for the Manchester Board ofAldermen.^[100][101] The general election also coincided with the election for welfare commissioner, aschool board election. and aballot question.^[100]

• Robert A. Baines,principal ofManchester High School West^[102]
• Donna M. Soucy, member of theNew Hampshire House of Representatives (1992–1996)
• Raymond J. Wieczorek, mayor since 1990^[5]

While the election was nonpartisan, all three candidates had publicly known partisan affiliations. Baines and Soucy were both knownDemocrats.^[5][103] Wieczorek was aRepublican.^[5]

Primary election

General election