Former Mayor James A. Rurak, who served as mayor of Haverhill from 1994 to 2001, has endorsed his one-time rival, Mayor James J. Fiorentini, for re-elec

tion against Police Union Vice-president Daniel Trocki.

Mayor Fiorentini and former Mayor Rurak ran against each other in 2003 and in 2007.  In his endorsement remarks, made at a Sept. 9, 2019 fundraiser for Mayor Fiorentini at Maria’s Restaurant in downtown Haverhill, Rurak said, in part:

“I am here to endorse you tonight because you have succeeded…I look around the city and I see great things happening. I see cranes, construction cranes, downtown. I see a vital downtown with resident and restaurants. I see streets paved. I see sidewalks reconstructed, and I see a mayor who has put together, through his heart and his mind, a city that works and it works well.”

Mayor Fiorentini said he was thrilled to have the support of his former rival.

“I thank Mayor Rurak, who has always been a class act, for his endorsement.  Mayor Rurak and I ran for the same job twice, in 2003 and again in 2007.  We were also candidates for the state senate on another occasion.

“When you compete for the same job, you get to see the other candidate close up.  I saw in Jim Rurak a hard-working man who, like me, loves the city and wants to do what was best for the city.