By Max Bowen and Geena Monahan — For the North Star Reporter
In what has been a contentious Town Election, there are some newcomers to the nine-member Town Council as well as the School Committee.
All nine of the seats on the council were on the ballot, as well as two seats on the School Committee. These were the only contested races in the election.
Seats on the ballot, but not contested, included the Board of Electric Commissioners, Board of Public Works and Park Commission.
Of the 24,451 registered voters, 2,957 cast their votes, approximately 12%. This includes absentee and mail-in ballots, as well as those who took advantage of early voting.
Write-in votes have not been counted and will be done within the next few days. It should be noted that these are the unofficial results.
There were 19 candidates for Town Council, and the top nine vote-getters will earn a seat. They are, in order:
- Justin Pare – 2,002
- Keith Lapointe – 1,829
- Andrea Slobogan – 1,768
- John Simmons – 1,765
- John Costello – 1,500
- Dan Donovan – 1,404
- Kevin McCarthy – 1,395
- Laura Wagner – 1,256
- Mark Gould, Jr. – 1,205
Of the incumbent members of the council, only Patricia St. Pierre did not win her re-election bid. Former council members Andrew Shanahan and Darius Gregory announced earlier this year that they would not seek re-election.
The three candidates for School Committee were Lyndsey Benharris, Cari Orsi and Colleen Endres. Because Keith Lapointe, a member of the School Committee, has won re-election to the Town Council, his seat on the committee is also now available, meaning all three candidates have won.