Town Election 2025 – Next Tuesday (Nov. 4) is decision day in Saugus as the town holds its biennial election; each voter will get a chance to choose up to 16 candidates – 11 of them in townwide races

By Mark E. Vogler

The town’s 22,729 registered voters will get a chance to decide the makeup of Saugus elective government for the next two years four days from now. Fifty Town Meeting seats – five in each of the town’s 10 precincts – will be decided when voters go to the polls (please see related story for polling locations) in the town’s biennial election.

The townwide races feature:

• Four incumbents are running for reelection to serve another two years on the Board of Selectmen while five challengers are competing for one of the five seats. The current board has served together for six years. But competition developed when Corinne Riley announced earlier this year that she would not seek a fourth two-year term. (Please see the last story in a series of candidate questions and answers. This week, the nine candidates shared their views on how to improve the operation of town government.)
• A major turnover in the School Committee race, which will result in at least three new members being elected to the committee – as three members decided not to seek another term. Veteran committee members John Hatch and Ryan Fisher stepped down, while School Committee Chair Vincent Serino decided to run for selectman instead of another term on the School Committee. (Please see the last story in a series of candidate questions and answers. Seven of the eight candidates shared their views on how to improve the operation of town government.)
• For years, William Stewart had been a popular choice among voters to get reelected to the Saugus Housing Authority. Having served more than half a century in Saugus Town Meeting and other volunteer government boards, he had the name recognition edge for reelection for another four-year term on the Saugus Housing Authority. But after pulling out nomination papers this summer, the 90-year-old incumbent decided not to seek another term against three challengers. (Please see an in-depth story of that race by Nivia Wilson, a student journalist in the Boston University Newsroom program who interviewed the three candidates.)
• Town Meeting members who tackle neighborhood issues and are accessible to people in their precincts usually get reelected. In recent years, attendance has become an issue. A Saugus Advocate review of minutes maintained by the Town Clerk reveals those candidates with perfect attendance and those precincts with the best attendance over the past two years. In two precincts – two and eight – attendance records won’t matter, as there is a lack of competition for the five candidates running for reelection on the ballot. They will be reelected without competition.

Early voting not that popular

Only 206 people – less than one percent of the town’s 22,729 registered voters – took advantage of early voting last Saturday. That’s a slight increase over the 187 two years ago, according to statistics provided by Saugus Town Clerk Ellen Schena’s Office.

Meanwhile, 143 registered voters have voted absentee as of Monday (Oct. 27). There were 162 ballots cast two years ago, according to the Town Clerk’s Office.

The most recent statistics (as of Oct. 27) compiled by the Town Clerk’s Office show that 15,487, or 68 percent, of the total registered voters are unenrolled. The number of registered Democrats is 4,772, or 21 percent. There are 2,223 registered Republicans, or just under 10 percent. The 59 Libertarians account for .26 percent.

Local town elections are nonpartisan.