WORCESTER — Mayor Joseph Petty is extending his streak as longest serving mayor in modern Worcester history, winning his seventh bid for the city’s top elected office Tuesday.
He declared victory at 8:39 p.m. on social media Tuesday, posting “THANK YOU Worcester from the bottom of my heart, for re-electing me for another term as YOUR Mayor and City Councilor At-Large! I look forward to another productive term, working TOGETHER to make Worcester a city where all residents can thrive.”
Voters took to the polls Tuesday and voted to keep Petty at the city’s helm with 10,687 votes for Petty and 5,877 votes for second place finisher Khrystian King.
By coming in second King becomes the vice mayor of Worcester and acts as vice chair on the council floor, a role Donna Colorio used to hold.
“Thank you Worcester for historically electing me Vice Mayor of Worcester and re-electing me to the City Council with our highest At-Large vote total ever,” King said on social media. “We have so much more to do, so much more to accomplish, I am excited to continue to serve our great city.”
In a phone call with the Worcester Guardian Tuesday night, King said that he’s not a political insider or part of any machine.
“I think the one thing that stayed with me regarding this is the people that came out and supported the vision and the messaging of our campaign,” King said. “We talked about affordability, we talked about…making sure that we’re honoring our Worcester folks who make Worcester, Worcester and not leaving them by the wayside because Joe Petty’s been focused on development.”
King said his messaging on those issues has influenced the politics and will continue to do so.
Voter totals, mayor:
- Joseph Petty—10,687, 49.86 percent of the vote
- Khrystian E. King— 5,877, 27.42 percent of the vote
- Donna M. Colorio—2,912, 13.59 percent of the vote
- Bill Coleman—1,009, 4.71 percent of the vote
- Guillermo Creamer Jr.— 950, 4.43 percent of the vote
Petty was first elected mayor in 2012 and became the longest serving mayor in 2019, when he became the first person to win five terms as mayor in New England’s second largest city.
He is currently serving in his 13th term as a councilor-at-large and came in first place in his bid for a 14th term, securing him a seat on the council and the mayorship.
Prior to this year’s election, Petty prepared to leave his mayorship behind for a position in the state senate, but lost out in the democratic primary in September 2022. Now State Sen. Robyn Kennedy won the primary for the First Worcester seat with 55.6% of the vote compared to Petty’s 44.3%.
King was first elected to the city council in 2016 and has worked as a social worker for decades. When he announced he was running for mayor, King said on his campaign website that the “same old leadership” in the city is failing.
“Housing prices are skyrocketing, crime and mental health are major problems, and there is too much focus on downtown and not enough on the local economic hubs in neighborhoods across the city,” King wrote on his website. “I’m running for mayor so that you and I can write the next chapter in Worcester’s history and build a city that is safe, sustainable, and affordable.”
Donna Colorio is in her second term as a councilor-at-large after serving on the Worcester School Committee for two terms. She has faced off against Petty in the two previous mayoral races, earning nearly 25% of the vote in 2021 and nearly 23 percent in 2019.
Petty earned over 60 percent of the vote in 2021 and nearly 61% in 2019.
Colorio told the Worcester Guardian she ran for mayor because of her experience representing the city and her “great sense of what the residents and businesses of Worcester needs and wants.”
“My vision for Worcester is to be a city where those who work in the city can live in the city,” Colorio said. “To accomplish this, we need the taxes to remain reasonable. I will vote accordingly.”
Bill Coleman, the host of “This is Worcester” on WCCA-TV, also faced off against Petty in the 2019 and 2021, earning around 9% of the vote in both elections.
Both Coleman and fellow mayoral candidate Guillermo Creamer Jr. have been described as community activists.
Creamer serves on the city’s Human Rights Commission and was the community organizer for Worcester Now/Next, the official name for the citywide planning process. He ran for a councilor-at-large position in 2021, coming in eighth place, and two spots away from making it onto the council.
“Worcester deserves a choice after a decade of limited options,” Creamer told the Worcester Guardian after being asked why he wanted to run. “After serving as the community organizer for the first citywide planning project in more than 40 years, I knew our residents were craving new leadership. Democracy thrives on choices, and I bring bold, fresh ideas to propel our city forward.”
Despite losing the mayorship, Colorio and King will remain councilors-at-large.
Kiernan Dunlop is an award-winning journalist who has spent the past five years reporting in Worcester, New Bedford and Antigua and Barbuda. She’s been published in Bloomberg, USA Today, Canary Media, MassLive, and the New Bedford Standard Times, among other outlets. She can be contacted at kdunlop@theworcesterguardian.org
