Khrystian King Will Run For Mayor Of Worcester In 2023

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester At-Large Councilor Khrystian King capped months of speculation Wednesday announcing he will run for mayor in 2023, challenging longtime City Hall colleague Joseph Petty Jr. for the leadership post.

King joined the city council in 2016, becoming the first Black man to be elected as a councilor since Worcester changed its charter in the mid 1980s to expand the council. The Quinsigamond Village resident will be vying for a fifth term on council in 2023. If King wins his bid for mayor, he would be the first person of color to serve as mayor of Worcester.

King, a social worker and cofounder of Black Families Together, made the announcement at a campaign kickoff event Wednesday at the Noamesco restaurant along Pleasant Street.

The 2023 mayoral race already has three other declared candidates: Petty — already the city longest-serving mayor since a charter change adding city council seats in the mid 1980s — is gunning for a seventh term; Worcester Human Rights Commissioner Guillermo Creamer has mounted a challenge; and Bill Coleman, who has run for mayor in 12 previous elections. At-Large Council Donna Colorio has also run for mayor in the last two elections, which is also how she earned her seat as vice chair of the council.

Under Worcester's Plan E form of government, the mayor gets elected from the field of at-large council candidates. Every at-large candidate is automatically opted-in to the mayoral race, and must withdraw. The candidate who wins an at-large council seat and also earns the highest votes for mayor becomes mayor. King's announcement means he won't withdraw from the mayoral race.

"The candidate elected to the office of councilor at large and receiving the highest number of votes for the office of mayor shall be mayor," the city charter says.

Correction: The subheading was corrected to reflect that King was the first Black man elected since 1985, and the article has been further updated to explain his role in that era of electoral politics.