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If all candidates who have taken out papers return certified nomination papers by the April 21 deadline, Marblehead’s June 9 town election would feature six contested races, with 31 candidates seeking 24 seats across 11 elected bodies.
The contests would be for Select Board, moderator, School Committee, Housing Authority, Recreation and Parks and a two-year unexpired term on the Cemetery Commission. The rest of the ballot would be uncontested, though several of those races still carry unusual weight this year because of budget pressure and pending policy decisions.
This year’s election arrives at a consequential moment for town government. Marblehead is working through an estimated $7 million structural deficit for fiscal 2027 while weighing service reductions, new fees and a possible override. The election also comes as the town continues to deal with the effects of the 2024 teachers strike, its dispute with the state over the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Communities Act and several citizen petitions that could reshape local government.
The Select Board race would be one of the higher-profile contests on the ballot. Rossana Ferrante, Erin M. Noonan and Jennifer Schaeffner have taken out papers for two seats. Another townwide race would pit John Gregory Attridge against Peter Jaffe for moderator.
School Committee would also be contested, with Melissa Marie Clucas, Ann Marie Jordan and Sarah A. Fox seeking two seats. Clucas was appointed after Brian Scott Ota resigned in 2025. Schaeffner’s term is also up this year, but she is not seeking reelection to the committee. The race comes as the schools continue to face the fallout from the 2024 teachers strike, declining enrollment and rising special education costs.
Other competitive races would include Housing Authority, where William Louis Kuker, Jean R. Eldridge and Jeff Weeden are listed for one seat, and Recreation and Parks, where Christopher E. Kennedy, Shelly Curran Bedrossian, Karin Linnea Ernst, Kenneth S. Klaiman, Larry J. Simpson and Michael Ryan McCarthy are running for five seats. On the Cemetery Commission, Sally Bull Sands and Rose A. McCarthy are seeking the two-year unexpired term, while David J. Meyer is listed for the commission’s separate regular term seat.
If the field holds, the uncontested races would be Bryan G. Adams for assessor; Thomas R. McMahon, Julie B. Selbst and Kristin Elizabeth Dubay Horton for the three Board of Health seats; Katherine H. Barker and Gary J. Amberik for Abbot Public Library trustee; Matthew B. Harrington for Municipal Light Commission; Robert John Schaeffner Jr. and Marc J. Liebman for Planning Board; and Barton Hyte and Gregory W. Burt for Water and Sewer Commission.
The Board of Health race is unusual even without opposition. Voters will elect three members this year as the board expands from three seats to five through a home rule petition. The top finisher will receive a three-year term, the second-highest finisher a two-year term and the third a one-year term.
The June ballot is one of the broadest Marblehead has seen in recent years. Whether the field stays this large will depend on how many candidates return certified papers by 5 p.m. April 21. But if every prospective candidate qualifies, voters will head into June with a long ballot and multiple competitive races at a time when the town’s largest financial and policy questions remain unsettled.
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