Rob Mills ‏(@Robert_Mills) tweeted this earlier this evening:

City Councilor Kevin Broderick just confirmed to me that he plans to resign tomorrow night to spend more time with his wife and five kids

That’s certainly big news in Lowell politics. Normally the tenth place finisher in the last council election would fill a vacancy, but that was Armand Mercier who has since passed away. The eleventh place finisher was former school committee member John Leahy. He would be sworn in as a member of the council should Kevin follow through on his plans.

Ironically, Kevin joined the council when an incumbent resigned. In his case, it was Rithy Uong. Kevin had finished tenth in the 2003 election, so he came on the council when Rithy resigned which was in early 2005, I believe. Council Broderick did much better in subsequent elections, finishing sixth in both 2005 and 2007; fourth in 2009; and third in 2011. He’ll be missed.

For those interested, here’s the order of finish in the last city council election:

2011 Election Results
City Council
1. Rita Mercier – 5305
2. Rodney Elliott – 4114
3. Kevin Broderick – 3880
4. Patrick Murphy – 3732
5. Marty Lorrey – 3709
6. Bill Martin – 3692
7. Vesna Nuon – 3611
8. Ed Kennedy – 3586
9. Joe Mendonca – 3460
10. Armand Mercier – 3405
11. John Leahy – 3383
12. Jim Milinazzo – 3365
13. John MacDonald – 3246
14. Corey Belanger – 3219
15. Paul Belley – 2539
16. Van Pech – 1897
17. Fred Doyle – 1890