Coogan leads Mayor Correia in early polling

Fall River School Committee member Paul Coogan leads Mayor Jasiel Correia 61 to 39% in Fall River Reporters online Facebook poll. Over 3,100 people have taken the poll over a 3 day period.

On Friday, mayor Corria pulled nomination papers – ending the doubt that he would run for re-election.

With Paul Coogan pulling nomination papers weeks earlier and performing so well in March’s special election, I thought running a poll made sense.

While the poll is not scientific, it does show the vulnerability of incumbent mayor Jasiel Correia who is in the middle of fighting federal wire and tax fraud charges.

While Mayor Correia fought off a recall earlier this year, the incumbent mayor faces a much bigger challenge this September and November. The special recall election held in March was a ‘winner takes all’ election while the top two finishers in this September’s primary election move on to a final general election in November. While mayor Correia could finish in the top two in September due to challengers splitting the vote, a head-to-head election would be a bigger mountain to climb if the federal charges still hang over his re-election bid. 7,829 Fall River residents voted to recall him in March with only 4,911 deciding against it – not a ringing endorsement by the people of Fall River.

It’s early and a lot can happen between now and September. I expect more strong candidates to throw their hats in the ring and of course Correia’s court battle will dictate his future.