Town Election 2023: Ten of 37 incumbent members running for reelection in Town Meeting races lost their seats; 13 new members elected

By Mark E. Vogler

Newcomers running for Town Meeting in Tuesday’s Town Election excelled, taking away seats from 10 incumbents while winning 13 seats overall. In three of the precincts, a first-time candidate received the most votes. Overall, 37 incumbents held onto their seats – one of them was former Precinct 9 Town Meeting Member Bob Long, who ran and got elected in Precinct 4 because of a change in voting districts after the last election. Only six of the 19 new candidates who ran for Town Meeting lost in their respective races. Precinct 10 was the only precinct where all five incumbent Town Meeting members were reelected. Two new members were elected in five of the precincts. Four of the precincts had one new member elected. Here is a summary of the vote in each of the precincts

  PRECINCT ONE: Newcomer Stacey Marie Herman-Dorant topped the field with 273 votes to win a seat. Incumbents Sue Palomba (269), Susan C. Dunn (222) and Mark J. Bell (218) were reelected. Newcomer John J. O’Brien (223), the Planning Board chair, was elected. Incumbent members Anthony Roger Arone (213) and Christopher Russell Jones (144) lost their seats.

  PRECINCT TWO: All three incumbent members who ran for reelection won their seats: Peter A. Rossetti, Jr. (254), Robert J. Camuso (235) and Christine Maria Moreschi (206). Challengers Jeanette E. Meredith (250) – a former School Committee member – and Matthew David Parlante (247) were elected. Candidates Joseph Stephen Malone (162) and Yves J. Lamitie (117) lost in their bids to win a seat.

  PRECINCT THREE: Newcomers Leonard Joseph Ferrari Jr. (279) and Mark Victor Sacco (233) both got elected while finishing as the top vote-getters in their precinct. Incumbent members Daniel I Schena (225), Arthur David Connors, Jr. (195) and Richard Edward Thompson (175) were reelected. Town Meeting Members Annemarie E. Tesora (170) and Rick Anthony Smith (130) lost their seats.

  PRECINCT FOUR: Challengers Robert J. Long (182) and Stephanie M. Shalkoski (150) topped the field in winning seats on Town Meeting. Long had served previously as a Precinct 9 Town Meeting member, but his neighborhood wound up in Precinct 4 when the voting boundaries were changed. Town Meeting Members Maureen Whitcomb (142), Glen R. Davis (138) and Stephen Doherty (138) were reelected. Incumbent members William Louis Leuci (114) and Robert C. Northrop (101) lost their seats.

  PRECINCT FIVE: Incumbent members Pamela J. Goodwin (320), Jaclyn Annette Hickman (281), Ronald Mark Wallace (237) and Brenton H. Spencer (230) were reelected. Challenger Mark S. Panetta (232), the husband of Board of Selectmen Chair Debra Panetta, was elected. Incumbent Member Mary Frances Migliore (219) lost her seat.

  PRECINCT SIX: Incumbent Members Jean M. Bartolo (272), Allen V. Panico (227), Kevin D. Currie (226) and William S. Brown (208) were reelected. Challenger Karen Rakinic (222) was elected. Town Meeting Member Elisa LeBrasseur (177) lost her seat.

  PRECINCT SEVEN: First-time candidate Frank V. Federico (217) topped the field in getting elected. Incumbents Michael J. Paolini (207), Stephen F. McCarthy (205), John George Chipouras (186) and Robert A. Palleschi (166) were reelected. Town Meeting Member Stefano D’Anna (149) lost his seat.

  PRECINCT EIGHT: Incumbents Thomas E. Traverse (253), Anthony J. Lopresti (206) and William Edward Cross III (194) were reelected. Challengers Darren R. McCullough (250) and Arthur Grabowski (172) – a former School Committee member – won seats. Town Meeting Member William Kramich, Jr. (136) lost his seat, and Challenger Kristi A. Talagan (168) just missed by four votes.

  PRECINCT NINE: All four incumbents who were running for reelection – Judith A. Worthley (220), Daniel Kelly (215), Katrina L. Berube (194) and Robert M. Strasnick (172) – won another two-year term. Challenger John S. Cottam (167) won the fifth seat, just beating out newcomer Linda Lee Bell (160).

  PRECINCT TEN: All five Town Meeting Members – Peter Z. Manoogian, Sr. (278), Carla A. Scuzzarella (248), Peter Delios, Jr. (198), Martin J. Costello (195) and Darren Steven Ring (178) – were reelected. Challengers: James A. Tozza (163) and Steven C. DiVirgilio (143), a former Town Meeting member, failed in their bids to win a seat.