One year after one of the most vibrant town elections in recent history, enthusiasm for participation in this year’s April 14 contests is decidedly meh.
In 2025, there were seven contested townwide races, an amount equal to all the contested races in the previous four town elections. This year, there could be as few as two.
With the Feb. 22 deadline for submitting nomination signatures approaching, only the Select Board and School Committee are guaranteed to have competitive races as each have three certified candidates seeking the two seats up for election.
SELECT BOARD
With veteran incumbent Marianne Cooley having opted not to seek a fifth three-year term, it is a certainty that the five-member board will have at least one rookie.
Board Vice Chair Cathy Dowd is seeking re-election to a second term. Dowd and two challengers, Bill Dermody and Richard Adduci, have all submitted the required 50+ signatures and had them certified.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Three candidates have pulled papers (obtained the blank nomination forms from the Town Clerk’s office) for two positions on the seven-member School Committee, and all three have been certified. Incumbents Michael Greis and Matt Spengler will be challenged by Lauren Soper.
PLANNING BOARD
The Planning Board is also guaranteed to have a new member as current chair Natasha Espada is stepping away after having served since 2021.
Three candidates have pulled papers for a five-year term on the five-member board. Oscar Mertz has had his papers certified while Ken Buckley and Gary Lesanto have yet to return their signatures.
OTHERS
The only other townwide elected board guaranteed to have a new member is the Board of Assessors. Member Michael Niden resigned from the board in late 2025 after having moved out of town. Only one candidate, Marc Wexler, has stepped up to run and has had his papers certified.
As of end of day Feb. 18, no challengers had emerged for positions on the Park & Recreation Commission, Board of Health, Needham Housing Authority, Library Trustees, Memorial Park Trustees or Commissioners of Trust Funds.
One challenger, John Longley, is certified to run for one of two three-year terms as Constable. Neither of the two incumbents, Richard Graham and Paul Hunt, has pulled papers.
TOWN MEETING
As for Town Meeting, the dropoff in interest has been precipitous after a historically competitive campaign across town just one year ago.
There are 240 elected Town Meeting members, with 80 positions contested every three years — eight positions in all 10 precincts.
In 2025, for the first time in recent memory, all 10 precincts had contested races as 141 residents overall stood for election, including 65 challengers. At close of business on Feb. 18, there were 97 possible candidates, 39 of them challengers.
Incumbents are not required to obtain signatures to be on the ballot, they need only to inform the Town Clerk of their interest in seeking re-election. So far, 56 of the 76 eligible incumbents (four incumbents have either moved away, relocated to a different precinct within town or died) have opted to run again.
Only three precincts are guaranteed at this time to have a contested race. Should no new candidates be certified between now and the Feb. 22 deadline for returning nomination papers, there could be as many as a dozen Town Meeting seats that will be filled by write-in candidates.
This all suggests that the recent trend of rising overall voter turnout may not continue. The past three elections have seen turnout figures rise from 14.6% to 19.4% and then to 29.2% in 2025. Given the likely dearth of choices, that streak looks to be in jeopardy.
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