LYNN — Mayor Thomas M. McGee announced Monday afternoon that he will not be running for re-election.
McGee said he ran for mayor four years ago to provide strong leadership and vision at a challenging turning point in the city’s history.
“It has been a great honor to serve as mayor of the city of Lynn, and as an elected official for the past 26 years,” he said. “Being your mayor has been the honor of a lifetime, and though I have made the decision not to be a candidate in this year’s election, I am confident that you will choose a new leader who builds on the important work we’ve done these last four years.”
Lynn City Council President Darren Cyr and longtime School Committee member Jared Nicholson have already announced their intentions to run for mayor. Both candidates praised McGee for his leadership and thanked him for his dedication to the city.
Cyr said that he has been thinking about running and talking with people for a while.
“I’ve been a city councilor for 16 years and I’ve been involved with the city my entire life,” he said. “I live here, raised my family here. I bleed Lynn.”
Nicholson also said that he is excited to run and provide leadership for inclusive growth through better schools, better jobs, better housing, and more peace.
“Going forward, we need to continue to learn and adapt to beat the pandemic and heal from the pain it has caused us,” he said. “Lynn can be a factory of opportunity, where we break down barriers of race and class and make bright futures possible for all of Lynn. That will require us to come together as a community to listen and then act with purpose and with urgency.”
Lynn City Councilor-at-Large Brian LaPierre, state Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn), state Rep. Daniel Cahill (D-Lynn) and state Rep. Peter Capano (D-Lynn) all said they will not be running for mayor. They thanked McGee for his leadership and wished him the best.
McGee expressed his gratitude to his family, staff, and the community for showing him so much support and providing him the opportunity to serve Lynn and make it a better place to live, work and raise a family.
McGee was elected mayor in 2017, after winning in a landslide against former two-term mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy. The last Lynn mayor to decide not to run for re-election was the late Patrick J. McManus, who announced in July 2001 that he would not run for a sixth term.
That announcement came two months after then-state Sen. Edward J. “Chip” Clancy announced his intention to run for mayor in 2001. Clancy was elected that year after running unopposed.
McGee touted his administration’s work stabilizing a significant financial crisis in the city, increasing economic development and planning, including the waterfront, open space, and fair housing priorities, and advancing a commitment to racial equity, inclusion, and justice for all.
He also acknowledges the investments in infrastructure, fully-funded net school spending, advocating for the Student Opportunity Act, and plans for school building capital projects that were accomplished under his administration.
“We have put together a professional team of hardworking and dedicated public servants who care deeply about this city, and I am proud to collaborate alongside them every day,” he said. “The city of Lynn is on solid footing and in a position to continue to move forward on that trajectory. Tough decisions have been made, and the pieces are in place for those that are ready to serve so that they may build on the vision for the next chapter of Lynn’s bright future.”
In the last four years, McGee said he has worked to increase public safety personnel, professionalized and improved customer service, training, and hiring processes, forged strong community and regional partnerships, and come together to combat the unprecedented and devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
McGee said he looks forward to carrying out the incredible responsibilities of his office with enthusiasm, resolve, and an abiding love for the city for the remainder of his time as mayor.
“I am committed to serving out my term with the same honesty, integrity and respect I’ve shown throughout my public service,” he said. “We have much left to accomplish — together.”
McGee thanked the community for their support, encouragement, and always candid feedback.
“I am truly grateful to all who lend their voices for a just, equitable and prosperous Lynn,” he said, “Because Lynn is a city we all believe in.”
