Marlborough 2023 Mayoral Preliminary: See Results

MARLBOROUGH, MA — Preliminary results in Marlborough's 2023 mayoral preliminary are in, and it appears two sitting Marlborough city councilors are on their way to the general election.

A field of four candidates filed to run in 2023 with Mayor Arthur Vigeant retiring at the end of the year, including Michael Baker, Marlborough police officer Patrick Hogan, At-Large Councilor Samantha Perlman and Ward 3 Councilor Christian Dumais.

When polls closed Tuesday, Dumais and Perlman were in the lead. Here are the preliminary results from Tuesday night:

• Christian Dumais — 1,488
• Michael Baker — 148
• Patrick Hogan —1,406
• Samantha Perlman — 1,760

Compared to other recent mayoral preliminaries, turnout in Tuesday's election was much higher with about 4,800 votes cast, or about 20 percent of registered voters.

The last mayoral preliminary in Marlborough held in 2019 featured Vigeant facing off against two other candidates. About 2,500 voters turned out in that election, or about 11 percent of all registered voters.

The 2015 preliminary — with contests for mayor, city council at-large and the Assabet Valley School Committee — had similar turnout of about 2,300 voters, and 10.9 percent turnout.

As sitting councilors, Perlman and Dumais entered the mayoral race with high name recognition. They also began their campaigns earlier than the other two competitors, with Dumais launching his bid in March, followed by Perlman in April.

Vigeant formally stepped down in early April, and will complete his sixth term at the end of the year. He joined city government in 1993 as a city councilor.

Dumais and Perlman meet next on Election Day Nov. 7.