By Adam Swift
In a closely contested race, Patrick Keefe topped Dan Rizzo to become Revere’s next mayor.
Keefe came out ahead by 330 votes on the unofficial count, 4,852 to 4,522.
There was little love lost between the two candidates on the campaign trail in a race that featured Keefe, the acting mayor and former Ward 4 City Councilor, against Rizzo, who was elected to a single term as mayor in 2011 and is currently serving as an at-large councillor.
Keefe was the council president when former Mayor Brian Arrigo left to take the top job at the DCR a little over six months ago, elevating Keefe to the mayor’s office.
Rizzo actually topped the preliminary election ballot in a four-way race that also included councillors Gerry Visconti and Steve Morabito. In the preliminary election, Rizzo had 2,634 votes to 2,493 for Keefe, but Morabito and Visconti split nearly 1,500 votes.
During the campaign, Keefe and Rizzo battled over the location of a new Revere High School, with Keefe voicing his continued support of building at the Wonderland site, while Rizzo supported building at the site of the current high school.
The candidates also battled over the future of development in the city, with Rizzo calling for more commercial development, and Keefe calling for a smart balance of development in the city.
“We feel good, there was a lot of hard work, it’s been a long six months,” said Keefe. “We wanted to run a positive campaign … and I think one we are extremely proud of.”
While the campaign was tough at times, he said it was not the slugfest that Revere has been used to in campaigns in the past and said he hoped it showed a new way for future elections.
