Former Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan announced he is running for mayor again in 2027, setting up a political comeback more than a decade after voters recalled him from the same office. Flanagan says residents deserve assurance that their tax dollars are being spent wisely and that city hall listens and follows through, framing his candidacy around protecting essential services, cutting wasteful spending, supporting small businesses, and keeping working families and seniors in mind when decisions are made.
Flanagan confirmed his candidacy Monday, as reported by WJAR. He first took office as Fall River's mayor in 2010 and went on to win two additional two-year terms before his political career hit a wall in 2014, when he faced a recall election fueled in part by public frustration over trash pickup fees. That recall ended his run at city hall: according to GBH News, Flanagan lost both parts of the special ballot, finishing with 27% of the vote to winner Sam Sutter's 37% in a crowded field of seven challengers.
A Recall Fight With Deep Roots
The 2014 recall effort was entangled with one of Fall River's most notorious political feuds. Then-city councilman Jasiel Correia accused Flanagan of showing him a gun to intimidate him into signing the recall petition, a claim that helped fuel the campaign against Flanagan at the time, per the same WJAR report. That rivalry resurfaced again this year: Correia, who was later convicted of extorting prospective cannabis vendors and defrauding investors as Fall River's own mayor, walked out of federal prison custody on July 11, after serving four years, according to the Fall River Reporter.
Flanagan has had his own chances to return to office before now. In January 2019, he said he would not run against Correia in a special recall election despite favorable polling in online community surveys, ultimately sitting out an eight-candidate race that was won by Paul Coogan, according to 1420 WBSM. Flanagan also made a notable political realignment in December 2024, announcing he was switching his party affiliation to Republican after serving three terms as a Democratic mayor, the Fall River Reporter has reported.
Surviving A Near-Fatal Stabbing
Flanagan's path back to politics also runs through a violent attack that nearly ended his life. He was stabbed near Cosmopolitan Dispensary, the Fall River cannabis business he co-owns, in October 2025, a case Hoodline covered at the time of his hospitalization. Suspect Corree K. Gonzales was indicted in March 2026 on a charge of assault with intent to murder, and a judge denied a defense motion to move the trial out of Bristol County in April 2026, the Fall River Reporter reports. Cosmopolitan Dispensary itself received final licensing approval from the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission in June 2023 and opened the following month at the former site of the Salter School, according to FUN 107.
An Open Seat And A City In Flux
Flanagan's announcement lands at a moment of real uncertainty at Fall River city hall. Current Mayor Paul Coogan narrowly won reelection in November 2025 with 50.7% of the vote, defeating Republican challenger Gabriel Amaral by roughly 200 votes, only to announce days later that he will not seek a fifth term in 2027 — leaving the seat open, per Fall River Reporter reporting cited in the dossier. That decision came after months of municipal turbulence, including a grassroots recall petition against Coogan that city attorneys declared invalid in April 2026 because signatures on the affidavit were notarized rather than properly sworn, according to Ballotpedia; that effort had been driven by disputes over the city's winter storm response and school committee conflicts.
With a 2020 Census population of 94,000, Fall River ranks as the tenth-largest city in Massachusetts and the second-largest in Bristol County behind New Bedford, per Wikipedia.
The city has also seen recent upheaval beyond the mayor's office itself. Fall River Police Chief Kelly Furtado stepped down in June amid a warrant controversy, a transition Hoodline previously reported, and in August an arrest in a Kennedy Park stabbing attempt again drew comparisons to the 2025 attack on Flanagan. None of those threads are resolved as Flanagan now asks Fall River voters to consider sending him back to the office that was taken from him twelve years ago.
