Vigeant Marlborough's New Mayor by 42 Votes

Arthur Vigeant is now the mayor-elect of Marlborough by only 42 votes: 2,996 votes to Matthew Jones' 2,954.

The new mayor, city council and School Committee members were all elected to fresh terms Tuesday evening with 29 percent of the registered voter turnout, a 1 percent downturn from the previous election which saw 30 percent head to the polls. 

Reporters, the candidates and hangers-on crowded outside City Hall Tuesday evening as they waited for the official election results which came in just before 10 p.m., minutes after the last precincts reported to the city clerk's office. 

In the space that incumbent mayor Nancy Stevens left when she announced she would not be running for an another term, Vigeant a longtime city council member, and Republican, was the immediate forerunner. Jones, the Democratic challenger, however, swooped in after the primary and nearly pulled off the win after running a campaign largely based on grabbing the attention of younger voters through social media, and a strong presence on the streets of Marlborough. 

Both candidates had a presence on Facebook, encouraging users to vote for the respective candidate based on a simple add platform. 

Vigeant was en route to City Hall as the final announcement was made, and celebrated the win with a victory party at the nearby with up to 300 guests in attendance, said people familiar with the event. 

Jones was not seen at City Hall during during the tally of the votes. 

Many speculated that a recount would take place due to the close nature of the contest, but Marlborough Patch was unable to verify this point before posting results.

In the city council race, four councilors-at-large were elected: Michael H. Ossing led the pack with 3,164 votes; Patricia Pope garnered 2,751; Kathleen Robey waited at City Hall to hear the official tally of her 2,634 votes; and Mark A. Oram took the last seat with 2,398. 

Joseph F. Delano Jr. ran unopposed and won with 685 votes in Ward 1.

Richard G. Jenkins beat incumbent Ward 2 councilor Paul R. Ferro, 458 to 423. 

Matthew H. Elder kept his seat in Ward 3 with 497 votes, as opposed to his challenger, George E. Stein who received 379. 

Robert J. Tunnera maintained his seat on the council in Ward 4 with 588 votes. 

Ward 5 was maintained (unopposed) by Robert M. Seymour. 

Edward J. Clancy will continue in his role as Ward 6 councilor with 688 votes. 

Donald R. Lander Jr. had a decisive victory in Ward 7 over Todd J. Beauchemin, 512 to 305 votes. 

Margaret M. Dwyer, Katherine H. Hennessy and Heidi A. Matthews were all elected to terms on the Marlborough School Committee, and Joseph A. Valarioti ran unopposed to a new term on the School Committee. 

In total, 6,002 voters turned out to vote out of the 20,417 registered in the city. This represents 29.4 percent of the total. There were 396 absentee ballots requested for this election and 335 absentee ballets were submitted. 

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