Jay Ruais won the mayoral election in Manchester on Tuesday. He came into his headquarters at the Derryfield Country Club to address the gathered crowd with his wife, Veronica.
Manchester Mayor-elect Jay Ruais talks with former U.S. senator and current Republican gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte during his victory party Tuesday evening at the Derryfield Country Club in Manchester
Mayor-elect Jay Ruais greets voters at the Ward 3 polls on Tuesday. In the background is former congressman and Mayor Frank Guinta, for whom Ruais worked as a congressional staffer.
Kevin Cavanaugh, candidate for Manchester Mayor, waves to voters at the Ward 1 polls at Webster School in Manchester on Nov. 7, 2023. At left is Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig.
Kevin Cavanaugh, candidate for Manchester Mayor, greets Manchester fire Lt. Chad Gamache at the Ward 1 polls at Webster School in Manchester on Nov. 7, 2023.
Jay Ruais won the mayoral election in Manchester on Tuesday. He came into his headquarters at the Derryfield Country Club to address the gathered crowd with his wife, Veronica.
Allegra Boverman/Union Leader
Jay Ruais won the mayoral election in Manchester on Tuesday. He came into his headquarters at the Derryfield Country Club to address the gathered crowd with his wife, Veronica.
Allegra Boverman/Union Leader
Manchester Mayor-elect Jay Ruais talks with former U.S. senator and current Republican gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte during his victory party Tuesday evening at the Derryfield Country Club in Manchester
Mayor-elect Jay Ruais greets voters at the Ward 3 polls on Tuesday. In the background is former congressman and Mayor Frank Guinta, for whom Ruais worked as a congressional staffer.
Kevin Cavanaugh, candidate for Manchester Mayor, greets Manchester fire Lt. Chad Gamache at the Ward 1 polls at Webster School in Manchester on Nov. 7, 2023.
For the first time in six years the Queen City’s corner office will be occupied by a Republican — Jay Ruais defeated Kevin Cavanaugh in the race for mayor.
Unofficial results show Ruais with 9,392 votes, to Cavanaugh’s 8,904. Turnout was around 18,300 — 1,200 fewer voters, or 6% less than in 2021.
Campaign finance reports on file at City Hall show Ruais’s campaign spent $398,134 as of Nov. 6. Filings show Cavanaugh’s campaign expenditures totaled $181,873 thru Nov. 6.
Six years ago, Joyce Craig defeated then-Mayor Ted Gatsas to become the first Democrat to be elected mayor of Manchester in 14 years and the first woman elected mayor of the Queen City.
Although municipal elections in Manchester are nonpartisan, the reality is races for major offices — particularly mayor — typically feature candidates backed by the two major parties.
The mayor’s office was occupied by a steady string of Republicans from 2006 to 2018, when Craig defeated current Executive Councilor Gatsas.
Ruais’s campaign message that “the status quo in our city cannot continue,” seemed to resonate with voters.
On Tuesday, Ruais thanked Cavanaugh for running a “great campaign.”
“He has been a selfless servant for the city of Manchester, and I have appreciated the opportunity to campaign alongside him and share our ideas and vision for the future,” Ruais said. “Today, the voters of Manchester spoke, and affirmed our message that Manchester has a great deal of promise, and in order to reach our full potential we must bring our city together and tackle the challenges we have.
“Now it is time to get to work on achieving our full potential.”
Kevin Cavanaugh, candidate for Manchester Mayor, waves to voters at the Ward 1 polls at Webster School in Manchester on Nov. 7, 2023. At left is Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig.
DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER
‘A bit short’
Just before 8 p.m. Cavanaugh called Ruais to concede, campaign manager Jon Gonin said.
“We came up a bit short,” Gonin said.
Cavanaugh entered his campaign event at the McIntyre Ski Area lodge to cheers and claps even though moments before Gonin had announced Cavanaugh had conceded the race to Ruais.
Cavanaugh made his way through the group of about 200 to a small stage in the front of the lodge featuring his campaign sign and an American flag. He was joined by his wife, Kerri, and children, Jack, Myles and Ryleigh.
Kevin Cavanaugh speaks to his supporters Tuesday evening at McIntyre Ski Area as he concedes the Manchester mayoral race to Jay Ruais.
JONATHAN PHELPS/UNION LEADER
“I love Manchester, I am not going anywhere,” Cavanaugh said. “I am going to keep fighting like hell for Manchester.”
At one point, he wiped tears from his eyes as he thanked his family, Gonin and other supporters. His speech lasted about five minutes.
Cavanaugh said the loss breaks his heart, but he continues to care about the city where he grew up.
“What we’ve always done as an Irish family is you go to a funeral and sadness is going to break out and the party is going to take over,” he said.
“I wish Jay Ruais good luck and we will always stand up for Manchester and the working people who are here,” Cavanaugh said.
Craig congratulated Ruais on his win,saying she believes “he shares our dedication to making our city stronger for everyone.”
“I’d like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my long-time friend Kevin Cavanaugh for running a campaign focused on what we love about our city and for his dedication to serving the people of Manchester,” Craig said. “I know Kevin will continue to serve our city and fight to improve the lives of everyone in it.”
Voters’ views
Jonathan Gerson, 38, a Manchester resident for 7 years, supported Ruais because “there’s some things that need to be done a lot better in the city.”
“He’s young. He’s likable. I think he’s going to be able to work well with different parties, with entities,” Gerson said. I think he will better coordinate and focus efforts on all the existing issues that we see — homelessness, housing prices.”
City officials said turnout at the polls was slow but steady throughout the day.
Patrick Cain, who owns the Mr. Mac restaurant with his sister and lives in Ward 1, said Manchester needs a change in supporting Ruais.
“We’ve got to have a change with all the issues going around, the crime rate and the homeless,” he said.
Ruais built his whole campaign on common sense. “To be perfectly frank, we’ve been lacking with that,” Cain said.
He also likes the attention Ruais brought to the city’s homeless.
“His issues with alcoholism, he knows that you really need to help these people out at the root causes,” Cain said. “He knows firsthand and I admire him coming off of that and his military service.”
Ruais has spoken candidly about past struggles with alcohol addiction and two DUI arrests. He has highlighted his work in advocacy and public policy and his work with groups like Catholic Charities. He has been sober since March 9, 2010.
Ruais lives in Ward 7 with his wife, Veronica, who immigrated to the United States from Peru in 2005.
Union Leader reporter Alex Hall contributed to this report.
