Embattled Fall River mayor loses recall, but wins re-election

FALL RIVER, Mass. — Voters in Fall River tossed their mayor out in a recall election Tuesday, but then chose him to fill the office.

The curious outcome was the result of how the recall election was structured.

"It was a long-fought battle and we prevailed," a victorious Mayor Jasiel Correia said at Barrett’s Waterfront while celebrating his win. "We'll be back at City Hall tomorrow."

The recall campaign was launched after Correia's indictment on 13 federal fraud counts related to his app business called SnoOwl. Correia pleaded not guilty, and he refused multiple calls to resign.

When asked about the charges, the mayor said, "That’s not the focus tonight."

Due to a quirk in the city charter that allowed him to be candidate, Correia could be recalled and re-elected at the same time.

Voters were given a two-part ballot.

First, they had to vote for or against recalling Correia. Then they were asked to choose a mayor from a slate of five candidates -- one of them was Correia -- should the recall be approved.

While more than 62 percent of voters chose to recall Correia, he still earned the most votes among the five candidates.

Correia won about 35 percent of the vote, leading second-place finisher Paul Coogan by 241 votes. Also running were City Council member Joseph Camara, Kyle Riley and Erica Scott-Pacheco.

The recall election also cost taxpayers money.

"We're looking around between $62,000 and $65,000 for it. That's every election, and this election is no different from any other election. It's just what the content is on the ballot," said Kelly Souza-Young, chairwoman of the city Board of Election Commissioners.

Correia, who was 23 years old when first elected mayor in 2015, will face re-election in November, when the next regular city election is held.

He told supporters he is in campaign mode for the election when his term ends.

"Everybody’s got the right to vote," Correia said of voters who didn’t support him. "I would hope in the next election in November everyone votes for me, but that's never the reality. We're going to keep trying to earn people's votes, earn their trust by doing good things for the community, like you've seen us do," Correia said.

Correia said he will give the State of the City address a week from Tuesday.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)