Alex Morse – a 22-year-old lifelong Holyoke resident and Brown University graduate – has become the youngest mayor in the city’s history, defeating incumbent Elaine Pluta in an election yesterday.

Morse received 53 percent of the vote in an election that saw a 38 percent voter turnout, the Springfield Republican reported.

“We were really able to inspire and excite people who haven’t been a part of the process in a long time,” he said in an interview with MassLive.com. “We were also able to win over the support of people who have been voting for decades … people who have always had a vision for the city of Holyoke but who were frustrated by the lack of progress.”

Morse has publicly said that he is opposed to the idea of bringing a casino to the city.

Elsewhere on Election Day, David Narkewicz earned 70 percent of the Northampton mayoral election vote, became the city’s first new mayor since 1999.

Narkewicz, the city’s council president, had served as acting mayor for the past two months after Clare Higgins – who had won six consecutive mayoral elections – left the post in September. His opponent, Michael Bardsley, attempted during his campaign to paint a picture of Higgins handing over the position to Narkewicz, the Springfield Republican reported.

Domenic Sarno, who has served as mayor of Springfield for the last four years, will serve in the post for four more years after securing 71.9 percent of the vote. Voters in 2009 approved a plan to expand the term length from two years to four.

Mayoral incumbents Michael Bissonnette and Michael Tautznik also won victories yesterday in Chicopee and Easthampton, respectively.

– Chris Shores, Collegian Staff