West Springfield Mayor Will Reichelt laughs with a supporter at his election night watch party on Nov. 4.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen
WEST SPRINGFIELD — Voters in West Springfield chose to stay the course on Nov. 4, with 71% casting their ballots to reelect Mayor Will Reichelt as the town’s leader. Town Councilor Daniel O’Brien ran a campaign to unseat Reichelt, who has been mayor for 10 years.
Polls closed at 8 p.m. and by 8:45 p.m., the vote tally showed a clear win for Reichelt, receiving 4,618 votes to O’Brien’s 1783 per the unofficial results of the election. Ten votes were submitted for write-in candidates while 85 blank ballots were received for the mayoral race.
At a watch party for Town Council candidate Brett Berchin at Smokin’ Scoops, Councilor Frederick Connor said he had not endorsed either mayoral candidate. I think highly of them both,” he said, adding that the town would be successful with either of the candidates at the helm.
As the results came in and it became clear that Reichelt had won, resident Bob Mancini said of O’Brien, “Danny’s a great guy. What he did is give the town of West Springfield a voice. He gave the town a chance to vote for someone else.”
The mood at Reichelt’s watch party was energetic and joyful. As the mayor made his way through the function room at the Dante Club, people reached out from all sides to shake his hand, embrace him or clap him on the back with congratulations.
Reichelt ran for reelection on a platform of increasing the recreation and culture in the city, infrastructure and economic development, often pointing to the revitalization of Elm Street, with new small businesses and a rotary to better handle traffic.
From O’Brien’s perspective, there have been missed economic opportunities and future fiscal challenges that have not been addressed. He has encouraged a renegotiation of the agreement with The Eastern States Exposition to increase the percentage of profits from the Big E that the town receives each year. The increase would offset the future loss of Gaming Commission’s Community Mitigation funding.
O’Brien said he would not raise property taxes for fiscal year 2027, but because the cost of expenses and salaries rises year over year, Reichelt said that not raising taxes to meet those costs would mean a $6 million shortfall, which translates to a loss of about 60 town employees.
The candidates differed in other areas, as well. O’Brien opposes shuttering Mittineague School, and during an Oct. 15 debate, said he would like to bond for $25 million in repairs to the building. Reichelt countered that fewer families are having children, and the town’s enrollment advisory committee is exploring recommendations for the 2026-27 school year. Whatever the recommendations, he said town residents should have input.
Reflecting on his win, Reichelt said, “Overall, people are happier in West Springfield,” than when he first became mayor. “Ten years ago, I came in with a vision and a plan, and we delivered on it.” Over his next four-term, he said he would listen to residents, while focusing on affordability issues and delivering on the four pillars he laid out in his campaign: modern, efficient government; improved infrastructure; safe, supported neighborhoods and a vibrant economy.
