MAYORS: With elections happening across the United States today, we thought it would be a good time to continue our chats about the election of Bradford mayors.

You might recall that current Mayor Tom Riel is the first in Bradford to serve three consecutive terms, but he nearly wasn’t.

During an extremely close race in the spring of 1995, incumbent Arvid Nelson was thought to be a shoo-in for the next term. A two-term mayor who was running for a third, Arvid was the only candidate in the May primary. But conflict among council members prompted then-councilwoman Connie Cavallaro to throw her hat in the ring as a write-in candidate that autumn.

The Era reported this on the day after the November 1995 election that Arvid “barely survived an 11th-hour, write-in campaign mounted by Councilwoman Connie Cavallaro.

“The margin of victory was a mere 9 votes, according to unofficial tabulations made at The Era.” That margin disappeared after Connie contested the confusing absentee ballots, leaving Connie and Arvid tied for the popular vote.

A special election on Jan. 9 — more than a week after Nelson’s term as mayor ended — revealed Connie to be the winner.

The front page of the Jan. 10, 1996, Era, read, “With hard work and mobilization of volunteers, write-in Connie Cavallaro swept aside incumbent Arvid Nelson Tuesday to become the City of Bradford’s first woman mayor.

“The three-to-one victory also marks the first time a candidate for a major office has won a write-in campaign in McKean County, according to Cavallaro campaign manager Ron Orris.”

(Readers might recall that Ron appeared in an earlier column on Bradford mayors, having held the title in the 1980s. Also a former 1980s mayor was Greg Henry, who was Connie’s attorney during the process of determining who would take the office.)