Christopher Silvia Suspends Campaign, But His Name Stays on the Ballot—What Voters Need to Know

FALL RIVER ─ Now that local café owner and mayoral candidate Christopher Silvia announced over the weekend that he was suspending his campaign weeks before the Sept. 16 preliminary election, what does it mean to voters?

Silvia’s name will still appear on the ballot along with incumbent mayor Paul Coogan, Gabriel “Boomer” Amaral, Carlos Cesar, and Michal Vandal, according to Election Commission Chairman Ryan Lyons.

And with 5,000 mail-in ballots sent out to voters starting Aug. 17, some may have already cast their vote for Silvia.

In fact, Lyons said over the weekend his office received three large trays of returns and was working on them on Tuesday.

Although he and his staff had yet to conduct an official count, Lyons estimated about 1,500 ballots were back in total so far. 

The deadline to get mail-in ballots to the elections office is the preliminary election day at 8 p.m.

“He is a legal candidate and the deadline to withdraw from the election was two days after the filing deadline, which was August 4,” said Lyons. “So, he remains on the ballot for the preliminary.”

Lyons said there is no do-over “once you submit your ballot.”

“No matter who you voted for, that mail-in ballot will be counted,” said Lyons.

What will happen if Silvia comes in as one of the top two candidates?

Lyons said Silvia could choose one of two options.

In the hypothetical of Silvia not wanting to move forward against an opponent for the general election, he would have to file a notarized affidavit of withdrawal with the election commission before the certification deadline for the preliminary by Sept. 22 by 5 p.m.

“At that point in time of a notification of withdrawal, I would notify the candidate who came runner-up in third place that he would advance on to the November election,” said Lyons. Silvia will also have an opportunity to change his mind about seeking the office if he is one of the top two candidates.

Over the weekend, Silvia made his announcement on The Bobby Couto Podcast that he was withdrawing from the mayoral race, citing online criticism regarding his campaign and media bias.

The Fall River Reporter has been investigating claims by his five most recent employers and other allegations.

At Silvia’s request, a list of questions was emailed to him. He then published the contents of the inquiry and his responses on his campaign Facebook page, which he has since taken down after his announcement.