Alex Morse's upset win in the Holyoke mayoral election capped an exciting election day across Western Mass.

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HOLYOKE – Old Holyoke fell to New Holyoke Tuesday.



Voters in this old former paper mill community elected Alex B. Morse the youngest mayor in its history in choosing the 22-year-old to replace 67-year-old Mayor Elaine A. Pluta, a political fixture here for decades.



Morse won 53 percent of the vote to 47 percent for Pluta. Voter turnout was nearly 38 percent.



Also Tuesday, despite choosing a new mayor, voters went with the status quo in terms of form of government, rejecting a ballot question to establish a new city charter.



Voters also chose Gordon P. Alexander as the new Ward 7 councilor over Alan G. Fletcher, a 44-year city police captain who retired last week, and ousted incumbent councilors Patricia C. Devine and Donald R. Welch.



Morse greeted supporters packed into a tent outside his Northampton Street headquarters.



"Holy mackerel!," said Morse, to cheers inside the tent.



"This is an incredible moment, not just for this campaign, but for the city of Holyoke. This has never been about me. This has never been about Alex Morse. This has been about the future of Holyoke," Morse said.

Pluta is in her first term as Mayor after having been a city councilor for 14 years.



Pluta conceded to Morse at 8:20 p.m., two years after a victory made her the city's first woman mayor.



"I'm going to be retiring in January, and that will be a good thing so I'm looking forward to it. So think good thoughts and keep up the good work and Holyoke's going to be fine," Pluta said.



The election of Morse, who graduated from Brown University in May, means the mayor's office will be occupied by a foe of casino gambling. Pluta was an early casino backer because she said it was the city's best shot at a multiple-job infusion.



A state gaming commission is expected to be established to determine locations of three casino resorts, including one in Western Massachusetts.



Pluta had been a supporter, and had received campaign donations from officials with, Paper City Development, a group that wants to build a $500 million casino resort at Wyckoff Country Club.

Despite Morse's victory, Paper City Development's Anthony L. Cignoli said the group isn't discouraged.



"It means that the conversations with the mayor-elect will be even more engaged about how this development has to benefit Holyoke. Often, someone who is opposed to a development like this can be the best spokesperson for the electorate in getting the best deal," Cignoli said.

Morse handily won Ward 7, where Wyckoff is located and where many residents protested against getting a casino in their area.

Instead, Morse said, the city should focus on its assets. He included among these the $168 million high-performance computing center that a partnership of colleges and high-technology firms is building on Bigelow Street at the first-level canal.



Morse overcame criticism from Pluta and others that he lacked experience – both life experience, given his age, and municipal government experience – to be considered fit to run a city with a $120 million budget.



Pluta was believed to have been hurt by a campaign that didn't take Morse seriously until late in the race. Morse defeated Pluta in the four-candidate Sept. 20 preliminary election by a single vote.

Morse's win in the preliminary election led Pluta to declare she was in the political fight of her life.



Also, city councilors and others said Pluta was hurt by the legal problems of William P. Moran, the former acting fire chief and a Pluta supporter in her 2009 campaign, when she made history as the first female mayor.

In June, the Hampden district attorney sought a criminal complaint against Moran, who has since retired, because Moran allegedly sent a fire truck to a fake call to the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside. A clerk-magistrate in Springfield District Court has yet to decide on that request.

It was Morse declaring Tuesday that his campaign made history by running a positive campaign based on working to get all residents a good education, a good job and a safe neighborhood in which to live.



"We denied and rejected the politics of the past," Morse said.



Morse praised Pluta, but returned to a campaign theme that the race was about the city and its residents and not the candidates.

"She served the city well, but this was never about her," Morse said.



Among those delighted with Morse's victory were officials with the Holyoke Geriatric Authority. Pluta, along with city councilors and others, had lost patience with the authority for its failure to pay the $2 million debt it owed to various city agencies.



Morse, in contrast, had authority officials' support and said the answer is to sit down to discuss the financial issues.



Authority board members Joseph T. O'Neill and Steven Kravetz and authority Executive Director Sheryl Y. Quinn were celebrating at Morse headquarters.



The city charter question was aimed at modernizing the 115-year-old city form of government. Changes would have increased the mayor's term from two years to four, reduced the City Council from 15 members to 11 and established centralized finance and personnel departments.



But critics said that the changes amounted to too much at once and that information packets mailed in advance of the election were difficult to read and understand.



Devine, 60, has been councilor at large since 2005. She was Ward 6 councilor from 1990 to 2000.

Election 2011: Holyoke Mayor Elaine A. Pluta concedes 6 Gallery: Election 2011: Holyoke Mayor Elaine A. Pluta concedes

The new at-large councilor is Daniel B. Bresnahan, former city health director.



Seven of the eight at-large councilors were reelected: Kevin A. Jourdain, Peter R. Tallman, Aaron M. Vega, Joseph M. McGiverin, Brenna E. Murphy, James M. Leahy and Rebecca Lisi.



Welch had been Ward 1 councilor since March 2007. Gladys Lebron-Martinez, currently the Ward 1 School Committee member, defeated Welch and will take over the Ward 1 council seat in January.



The Ward 7 council race was at play because incumbent John J. O'Neill said he wasn't running for reelection. Alexander ran a campaign in opposition to a casino. Fletcher said he supported the city having a casino.



In Ward 3, incumbent Councilor Anthony M. Keane also is vacating the seat. The new Ward 3 councilor come January will be David K. Bartley, who defeated Richard P. Purcell.



In Ward 4, incumbent Timothy W. Purington also didn't seek reelection. Jason Ferreira won the Ward 4 seat over Libby Hernandez.