Local News

Gloucester’s embattled mayor said she could still win in November. She was wrong.

Challenger Greg Verga defeated incumbent Sefatia Romeo Theken by a wide margin.

The harbor in Gloucester. Lane Turner/Globe staff, file

By Arianna MacNeill

1 minute to read
GLOUCESTER MAYOR:

Gloucester mayoral candidate Greg Verga has soundly defeated incumbent Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, who had finished a distant second in the primary after a year marked by complaints and resignations from city employees.

Verga defeated Romeo Theken with 5,829 votes, or nearly 59 percent, to 4,047 votes, or 40.8 percent, according to city election results.

There were 9,920 ballots cast for mayor, including 44 write-in votes. Gloucester has 21,718 registered voters, according to the Secretary of State, making turnout about 46 percent

Romeo Theken told Boston.com last month that she wasn’t putting too much stock in the primary results, saying many of her supporters were out of town on the day of the primary, and others had filled out their ballots incorrectly.

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“I’m glad I got on the ballot because that would’ve been really bad,” she said at the time. “I have a lot of things to offer.”

“It feels great,” Verga said after his win Tuesday, The Gloucester Daily Times reported. “I am looking forward to hitting the ground running starting tomorrow and getting the transition going.”

He said that Romeo Theken did call him to congratulate him, and told him to “enjoy” the evening, the Times reported.

Romeo Theken had held the position since 2015, when she was appointed by City Council due to former mayor Carolyn Kirk leaving to take a position with Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration. She was then elected, and has held the position since.

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Romeo Theken’s defeat comes after she was called a “toxic leader” by the city’s harbormaster. In the Health Department, both its director, Karin Carroll, and Public Health Nurse Kelley Hiland resigned on June 30. Romeo Theken also faced a complaint from the city’s Community Development Grants administrator, Jaimie Corlis, citing Facebook posts she made on the city’s official mayoral page regarding ongoing personnel issues.

Verga, on the other hand, had originally pulled papers for city councilor at-large, then decided to vie for the corner office in late June.

“People are ready for a change,” he said in a past interview with Boston.com.

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