In the latest sign of Fall River’s rightward political shift, Mayor Paul Coogan narrowly kept his job on Tuesday against a Republican challenger who’d never held elected office in the city.
Coogan, a Democrat running for his fourth term as mayor, won just over 50% of the 11,000 votes cast against Republican Gabriel Boomer Amaral, a realtor and Army National Guard veteran whose previous campaign for Fall River’s city council was unsuccessful. Coogan beat Amaral by just 225 votes.
Amaral plans to call for a recount. He said he “has questions” about the election’s integrity.
In a phone interview late Tuesday night, Amaral said early returns on Tuesday night showed him leading by 200 votes with only three precincts left to report. But Coogan wound up winning those last precincts by a wide margin, Amaral said, delivering the Democrat a late victory.
“The numbers just aren’t adding up, right?” Amaral said in a phone interview late Tuesday night.
When pressed, Amaral did not present any specific claims about election fraud.
“I don’t know what happened,” Amaral said. “I just want to make sure that it’s legit. That’s all. If he won, by all means, I’ll congratulate him.”
Coogan could not be reached for comment late Tuesday night.
If the unofficial results hold, they will be the closest call for Coogan since he was first elected six years ago against an incumbent Democrat facing a federal corruption indictment.
The Democratic party’s hold on the city has slipped significantly since then.
Fall River voted for Trump in last year’s presidential election after a century of supporting Democrats in that race.
This year, voter turnout for the mayoral race was about 19%. Coogan will begin another two-year term in January.
