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Date: 7/11/2023
NORTHAMPTON — With the last day to submit nomination papers to the city clerk fast approaching, a group of contests is starting to form for this year’s Northampton city elections this fall.
So far, five candidates will be competing for two at-large City Council positions, including Henry Charlton Morgan, David Muprhy and Roy Martin, as well as incumbents Marissa Elkins and Garrick Perry.
Elkins currently serves as one of two at-large councilors and is seeking re-election. The other current at-large councilor, Jamila Gore, announced back in the spring that she is stepping down at the end of this term. Perry, who currently serves as the Ward 4 councilor, is looking to step up and fill one of those at-large positions.
Meanwhile, Murphy has served for over a decade on the council before, while Martin was a mayoral candidate for Northampton multiple times in the past.
Two candidates hope to take Perry’s place as the Ward 4 councilor according to the city’s website: Paul David Waterman and Felicia Lundquist.
Current City Council Vice President and Ward 2 representative Karen Foster also announced in the spring that she is stepping down, which means that position will need to be filled, as well. So far, Deborah Pastrich-Klemer and David William Ames have pulled papers to become candidates for Ward 2.
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. JoElla Tarbutton-Springfield, who currently serves on the Northampton Housing Authority, is the only one to pull papers for the Ward 3 position so far.
In Ward 6, longtime City Councilor Marianne LaBarge may face an opponent in Matthew DeSouza, the only other one to pull papers for that position.
According to the website, Wards 1 City Councilor Stanley Moulton, Ward 5 City Councilor Alex Jarrett, and Ward 7 City Councilor Rachel Maiore are the only ones who have pulled papers in their respective wards. All three are incumbent candidates seeking reelection.
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, Aline Davis and Susan Voss have all pulled papers for two at-large positions. Agna and Davis currently serve as at-large members, while Robbins currently serves as the Ward 1 member. Voss served on the committee in the past but does not a the moment.
The other possible contest on the committee is for the Ward 6 committee. So far, incumbent member Margaret Miller and Cynthia Marie Mahoney pulled papers.
The rest of the ward positions do not have any contests yet. Some feature incumbent candidates: Holly Ghazey pulled papers for Ward 1, Emily Serafy-Cox pulled papers for Ward 3, and Michael Stein pulled papers for Ward 4.
Other wards could see newcomers. So far, Kerry LaBounty pulled papers for Ward 7 and Ann Hennessey has pulled papers for Ward 5. Foster, who stepped down from the City Council, pulled papers for Ward 2.
As for the Smith Vocational Board of Trustees, incumbents Michael Cahillane, Julie Spencer-Robinson, and Richard Aquadro have all pulled papers so far.
In another race, possible candidates for the Forbes Library Board of Trustees include incumbent Kathleen Wright, as well as newcomers Jeannette Muzima, Anne Teschner, Ruth Francis and Sean Harold Vitali.
According to the website, July 24 is the last day to submit nomination papers to the Registrar of Voters for certification of signatures while Aug. 7 is the last day to submit nomination papers to the City Clerk.
The preliminary election is scheduled for Sept. 19 while the Biennial Municipal Election is scheduled for Nov. 7.
Reminder Publishing will have more on the candidates as the elections come closer.