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Date: 8/15/2023
NORTHAMPTON — The date to submit nomination papers has passed, which means the candidate pool is set for the upcoming Northampton municipal election on Nov. 7.
As of press time, three candidates will be competing for two at-large City Council positions, including David Murphy, Roy Martin and incumbent Garrick Perry — who currently serves as the Ward 4 councilor.
Murphy has served for over a decade on the council before, while Martin was a mayoral candidate for Northampton multiple times in the past.
According to the finalized list, Jeremy Dubs, who currently serves as the chair of the Disability Commission, is the only candidate slated to take Perry’s place as the Ward 4 councilor.
Current City Council Vice President and Ward 2 representative Karen Foster announced in the spring that she is stepping down, which means that position will need to be filled, as well. Currently, Deborah Pastrich-Klemer is expected to take the Ward 2 slot, with no opponent.
Voters will also elect a new Ward 3 councilor after current Ward 3 representative and City Council President Jim Nash announced he has decided to step down as councilor. According to the list, Quaverly Rothenberg is the only candidate expected to take that spot.
Wards 1 City Councilor Stanley Moulton, Ward 5 City Councilor Alex Jarrett, Ward 6 City Councilor Marianne LaBarge and Ward 7 City Councilor Rachel Maiore are all expected to maintain their current positions on the council.
Outside of those races, the Northampton School Committee will also feature some shuffling in this year’s election.
As of press time, Gwen Agna, Margaret Robbins and Aline Davis have all submitted papers for two at-large positions. Agna and Davis currently serve as at-large members, while Robbins currently serves as the Ward 1 member.
The only other contest on the School Committee is for the Ward 4 position, which is currently held by Michael Stein. According to the list, he will go up against Endamian Stewart during the election.
The rest of the ward positions do not have any contests. A few features incumbent candidates: Holly Ghazey submitted papers for Ward 1, Margaret Miller submitted papers for Ward 6, and Emily Serafy-Cox submitted papers for Ward 3.
Other wards will see newcomers. Kerry LaBounty submitted papers for Ward 7 and Ann Hennessey submitted papers for Ward 5. Foster, who stepped down from the City Council, submitted papers for Ward 2.
According to City Clerk Pamela Powers, there will be one open position on the ballot for the Trustee of Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School since someone did not submit their papers, which means only two names will appear on the ballots for three seats. Those names are incumbent candidates Michael Cahillane and Julie Spencer-Robinson.
In another race, candidates for three seats on the Forbes Library Board of Trustees will include incumbent Kathleen Wright, as well as newcomers Anne Teschner, Ruth Francis and Alexander George.
With the list finalized, the next step will be the drawing for the order of names on the ballot, which occurs on Sept. 26 at 5 p.m.
There will be no primary election, according to Powers.