The next Amherst town election is Tuesday, November 4. Seats on the Amherst Town Council, Amherst School Committee, Library Board of Trustees, and other elected positions are all on the ballot.
This page will be your go-to resource for all-things election! Whether you’re looking for information about who’s running and where they stand on key issues or what their proposals and ideas are, we’ll collect the critical information and share it here.
And, we will publish the election results on election night, Tuesday, November 4.
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How to Vote
Early voting is available through Friday, October 31, 8:00 am-4:30 pm in Town Hall.
On Election Day (Tuesday, November 4), voting is open 7:00 am-8:00 pm. Voters must cast their ballots in the polling location for their precinct. See this PDF map or use this interactive map to find your polling location.
Town Council Candidate Debates
The Amherst Current presented two debates featuring candidates for the Town Council shortly before the election on November 4. Read more about the event format, here.
Friday, October 24
- Candidates for At-Large and District 1 seats on Town Council
- Read the recap.
Monday, October 27
- Candidates for Districts 2-5 seats on Town Council
- Read the recap.
Who’s running?
A total of 35 individuals submitted nomination papers in order to be placed on the ballot for election. In the last days before the deadline, Dillon Maxfield withdrew his candidacy for an at-large seat on the Town Council and will appear on the ballot running only from District 4. Allegra Clark withdrew her candidacy for School Committee and will run just for an at-large seat on the Town Council. All candidates must file campaign finance reports with the Town Clerk to disclose all contributions received and expenditures made.
Candidate written statements are available on the Town’s website and video statements are below and on Amherst Media on YouTube.
Town Council Candidates
All 13 seats on the Town Council are up for election. This includes 3 At-Large seats and 2 seats in each of the Town’s 5 Districts. (See the current Town Council.)
Three current town councilors have are not running for re-election:
- Pat De Angelis, District 2
- Bob Hegner, District 5
- Andrew Steinberg, At-Large (Read his announcement.)
Here’s who’s seeking election to At-Large seats and District seats.
| At-Large (3 seats) | District 3 (2 seats) |
| – Andrew Churchill – Allegra Clark – Mandi Jo Hanneke (incumbent) – Ellisha Walker (incumbent) | – Patrick Drumm – Heather Hala Lord (incumbent) – George Ryan (incumbent) |
| District 1 (2 seats) | District 4 (2 seats) |
| – Jillian Brevik – – Ndifreke Ette (incumbent) – Vincent O’Connor – Cathy Schoen (incumbent) | – Dillon Maxfield – Pamela Rooney (incumbent) – Jennifer Taub (incumbent) |
| District 2 (2 seats) | District 5 (2 seats) |
| – Amber Cano-Martin – Jason Dorney – Lynn Griesemer (incumbent) | – Ana Devlin Gauthier (incumbent) – Samuel Macleod |
Note: Andrew Churchill has stepped back from serving on the editorial board of The Amherst Current.
Eleven of the 19 candidates for Town Council recorded videos with Amherst Media introducing themselves to voters. Watch them here:
School Committee Candidates
All 5 seats on the Amherst School Committee are up for election. Elected members of the Amherst SC all serve on the Regional SC as well. Incumbents Irv Rhodes and Jennifer Shiao are not running for re-election.
Here’s who’s seeking seats on the School Committee.
- Esther Azar
- Andrew Hart
- Laura Jane Hunter
- Bridget Hynes (incumbent)
- Deborah Leonard (incumbent)
- Sarah Marshall (incumbent)
Five of the six School Committee candidates recorded videos with Amherst Media introducing themselves to voters. Watch them here:
Library Board of Trustees Candidates
All 6 seats on the Library Board of Trustees are up for election. All 6 incumbents are seeking re-election; there are no other candidates for the Library Board of Trustees.
- Farah Ameen (incumbent)
- Lee Edwards (incumbent)
- Tamson Ely (incumbent)
- Eugene Goffredo(incumbent)
- Nathanael Carl Larson (incumbent)
- Austin Sarat (incumbent)
Two candidates recorded videos with Amherst Media introducing themselves to voters. Watch them here:
Other Elected Offices
Housing Authority
All 3 members are up for election. Incumbent Michael Burkart and newcomer (and current District 2 Town Councilor) Pat De Angelis are the only candidates on the ballot for the Housing Authority. Update: Dakota Costa has announced they are running a write-in campaign.
Oliver Smith Will Elector
The one elector for the Oliver Smith Will is up for election. The current incumbent, Judith Souweine, is the only candidate for the position.
What are the key issues?
Most of the challenges facing the town come in three areas: money, housing and infrastructure. We’d like to see the candidates avoid platitudes and prepared statements, and instead give voters information on how they would address the key issues. Here are the issue areas that we at The Amherst Current want the candidates to address as the election campaign begins. (Read more about these issue areas.)
Money
Amherst’s budget conundrum boils down to this: high expectations for public services, high property taxes, a small commercial tax base, lots of tax-exempt land, and little certainty about state and federal aid.
We’d like to see the candidates outline their spending priorities and what trade-offs would be necessary to achieve them.
Housing
Amherst has seen a big jump in housing prices over the last five years, and many young families and service workers can’t afford to buy homes here. Although the private sector is in charge of building and renting out housing, there are things that the town government can do to reduce the regulatory barriers or incentivize housing development.
It’s easy for candidates to say they support affordable housing. Voters should expect them to explain what actions and policies they support to address our housing issues.
Infrastructure
We face some serious questions about public infrastructure. Despite our very high taxes, we tolerate decaying roads and buildings and have delayed making decisions about them.
Candidates should specify what they would sacrifice to undertake a long-term repair plan to bring our pockmarked roads into the 21st century and what they’d propose to finally move forward on the fire station and DPW buildings.
Schools
The public schools take up a whopping 52% percent of our municipal budget. The community has high expectations for programs and services, district costs have been rising faster than town revenue, and – like school districts everywhere – the districts face tremendous uncertainty around state and federal aid. At the same time, enrollment has declined over 40% since 2002, and 10% since 2019.
School Committee candidates should articulate how they will approach planning in the face of uncertainty and how they will respond if funding is lower than requested.
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THE AMHERST CURRENT 