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New Bedford politics were notable for sharp criticisms and red hot issues in 2025 that, perhaps unexpectedly, became a forge that created the most under-budget City Hall operation in recent memory.
But municipal leaders, including Mayor Jon Mitchell and most city councilors, largely avoided national political issues, even as policies from the new presidential administration had local ramifications.
This navigation reflects the contradictions of New Bedford: an immigrant city where recent immigrants mostly don’t vote; a home for many of the state’s MAGA loyalists where elected officials are overwhelmingly Democratic; a decidedly purple place in an increasingly polarized world.
At the same time, local elections suffered from low turnout that’s becoming the new normal. The council will welcome two newcomers for 2026: Scott Pemberton, an upset victor in Ward 2, and James Roy, a progressive who won an open at-large seat after Linda Morad’s retirement.
And in its fourth year, The Light arrived at Beacon Hill, expanding its coverage to the Massachusetts Legislature by partnering with the Boston University Statehouse Program. Graduate journalism students provided in-depth coverage of New Bedford’s representatives and other issues in state government, including transparency reforms, energy policy, and health care.
Here are some of the biggest local and regional political stories from the year.
Mayor and council clash — on the budget, in speeches, and in the courts (almost)
Local politics is often thought to avoid the deep (and growing) polarization of the national stage because of a shared constituency, mostly kitchen-table issues, and a proximity that forces opponents to “look ’em in the eye.”
New Bedford is an exception.
The year began with five city councilors going off on the mayor in a public meeting. Sparked by the normally anodyne business of appointing the local licensing board, councilors called the mayor “irresponsible,” accused him of “mismanagement,” called out “baloney,” and said that the whole situation was “a damn shame.”
Budget disagreements came up early and often, including with a temporary hiring freeze, capital infrastructure cuts, and new austerity measures from the mayor after initial budget cuts from the council.
Throughout, Mitchell fired back at the council, saying in front of news cameras at a press conference that the council’s cuts “don’t make any sense whatsoever,” and added that there could be some “City Councilors who don’t read the materials.”
By the fall, the City Council sought to sue the mayoral administration to uphold its right to approve a new police chief. That fight fizzled, and the council held its hearing with the new chief in December, with no court hearing required.
Yet along the way, a lot of governing got done.
Mitchell helped to broker the reopening of the Star Store, the downtown department store that became an arts college before UMass Dartmouth abruptly vacated the building in 2023. The Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston, the new owners, said it hopes to redevelop the space into a central arts hub for “world-class talent.” The building will undergo renovations before it becomes operational.
Continued improvements to the city’s water systems were approved and are set to continue. Construction began to replace the I-195 overpass, and the train actually arrived in New Bedford.
And the city came in $4.8 million under budget. It was the first time in recent memory that every single department and every spending category was at or under budget.
Local elections, low turnout, and new faces
Early news set up for an exciting election season: Linda Morad, the 20-year council veteran, said she would not seek reelection. That opened up a seat and attracted many people to pull papers to run for City Council.
The Light looked at the history of political donations in New Bedford, pulling back the curtain on the biggest power players in local elections and the councilors who have courted the most dollars.
Ahead of the preliminary, Roy addressed a potential scandal head-on. Responding to circulating rumors about his past, Roy talked about his history of substance use in an interview with The Light, connecting his story to those of many New Bedford residents. Meanwhile, incumbent Ward 5 Councilor Joe Lopes denied reports of an almost-scandal. Lopes was not charged with any crime, but court filings made reference to his sexual harassment, which he denied.
In the preliminary, a dismal 5.8% turned out to vote. The early standings showed Roy and local restaurant owner Devin Byrnes poised to accomplish an upset.
But in the November election, incumbent Naomi Carney stormed back (and outspent everyone to do so). With 11% turnout, Roy won a seat and Byrnes was defeated. Because Ward 2 incumbent Maria Giesta lost her seat to Pemberton, Carney became the only woman who will serve in the next term of the New Bedford council.
In the background of this horse race, the council decided that New Bedford would be the only city in Massachusetts not to host a September preliminary. Local and statewide elections officials had recommended the change to accommodate easier mail-in voting, but the council changed its mind and did not move the preliminary date.
The Light shines at the Statehouse
As new members of New Bedford’s state delegation arrived at the Statehouse, The Light’s graduate student journalists profiled Steven Ouellette, of Westport, and Mark Sylvia, of Fairhaven.
These new representatives, and the rest of the delegation, got to work on many issues, but perhaps none was bigger this year than government transparency. Right away, these reps advocated for more transparency, as the issue made incremental steps through the Legislature.
The Light kept covering this issue following a clear mandate from voters after the 2024 ballot question on auditing the Legislature, and legislators did make significant progress on transparency reform. Still, there remains a pile of unpassed bills at the Statehouse, and The Light dug into how much committees actually accomplish (some do more than others).
The transparency fight could come back to the 2026 state ballot as several petitions have already cleared key hurdles.
Meanwhile, residents wanted to know why electric and gas bills are so high, and The Light dug into these questions. In the fall, legislators targeted delivery charges and oversight to provide ratepayers with more clarity and relief. A sweeping energy bill was paused in the House after environmental advocates pushed back.
The Light also reported on happy hour laws and the impending arrival of cannabis consumption bars in Massachusetts, among many other topics.
Other politics stories you can’t miss
Don’t miss these other stories from The Light’s 2025 coverage.
“Mayor Mitchell to seek full inflation-adjusted salary” — The mayor opted to receive his full, inflation-adjusted salary after years of denying his contractual pay raises.
“Something rotten in New Bedford, or much ado about nothing?” — City councilors and the administration officials answered questions about how long-serving politicians came to receive bonuses they weren’t supposed to.
“What’s in the budget anyway?” — As election and budget season raged on, The Light broke down what’s actually going on with your tax dollars.
“New Bedford lanches new app, 311 system for city services” — The city launched a new way to connect with municipal services.
After cutting funding for the Zeiterion and a Portuguese library branch, the City Council restored it.
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org
Both State and City Politics need a major overhaul.
Our Governor and State Delegation have failed us miserably, combined the democrat majority has run our state into the ground, reckless spending, high taxes, driving industry and residents to leave our state, and putting illegals before Veterans, Seniors, Families, Children, and Hard Working Residents. Time to gut the DPU for letting Eversource to continue to spike our utility bills to outrageous levels, while raking in enormous profits. Our state needs term limits, no one should be serving for decades, but most of all it;s time for a major change in the Governor’s office, Maura Healey must be voted out of office, she is the worst governor in our state’s history.
In our city we have a mayor that has run rough shot over the City Council, but the City Council has blame to take too, they have failed to act on the one night where they can make a difference (budget cut night) they failed to stop this mayor from taking our city budget from $270 Million Dollars to $550 Million Dollars. For over ten years this mayor has been relentless with spending and expansion of city government, making it tough for home owners and businesses to survive with rising taxes and sewer and water rates, but most of all our city has had no economic growth (wind failed and never created the promised 2,000 plus jobs and Parallel Products is just another Superfund Site waiting to happen). This administration has failed to attract any new private industries and this has meant no new jobs or tax relief for city residents and businesses). This new City Council needs to step it up and do a better job especially on Cut Night, we can’t continue to spend money we don’t have. In the mayor’s office it’s real simple, we need change, a new direction, it will be the only way to save the future of this city.
Wind has been stopped?
Where is the transparency that they have been at hard work at all year ?