Former Fall River City Council president, acting mayor, pulling papers to run for office in 2023

A former Fall River City Council president and acting mayor is throwing his hat back into the political ring.

After we noticed Cliff Ponte Jr. make a social media post with the hashtag #Ponteforcouncil back in March, we asked him if that meant he was making a run for city council this year. Ponte told Fall River Reporter at the time that he was strongly considering a run. On Thursday, Ponte plans to pull papers to run for city council.

In 2021, Ponte opted to run for mayor instead of city council. Current mayor Paul Coogan garnered 61% of the votes to Ponte’s 38% in November after a September primary where Coogan received 63% of the votes and Ponte accrued 34%.

Ponte previously served 3 two-year terms on the city council, the last two as president, succeeding Shawn Cadime. In his second term, he stepped in as acting mayor when Jasiel Correia eventually stepped down after a second arrest.

Ponte currently runs a real estate office in addition to being part owner of Al Mac’s Diner with his father since May of 2019 and Al Macs On-The-Go since 2021.