It will be a busy election season in Northampton — with preliminary elections needed for several city offices.
Preliminary elections for municipal positions often can be sleepy, or unnecessary if there are not enough candidates. In Northampton, there are four candidates running for mayor. There is a half dozen people seeking a pair of at-large city council seats. And six of the seven ward races for council are contested, with three requiring a preliminary to pare down the field ahead of November's general contest.
Northampton City Clerk Pamela Powers, who oversees elections, said the influx of candidates may be attributed to concerns over the city budget.
"People want to have more influence in how the city spends its money and there's been quite a few people who have expressed an interest in participating in that process," she said.
Specifically, there's been a push by many for the city to spend more on its schools in recent years and it has become a hot-button issue with the election looming.
The headlining race in Northampton will be for mayor. One-term incumbent Gina-Louise Sciarra is facing three challengers: David Dombrowski, a retired city police officer, Jillian Duclos, the former executive director of the Downtown Northampton Association and Daniel Breindel, who has a varied background including as a journalist and performer.
The top two vote getters in the September preliminary will move on to November’s general election.
A complete list of Northampton candidates for office and be found here.
The preliminary election will be held on September 16. Powers, the city clerk, said that date along with a full ballot might help to drive turnout. She said the city has traditionally held preliminary elections early in September, when school is starting and voters are coming out of their summer routines.
"This seems to be a little bit later than that," Powers said. "I'm hoping that it will mean that people will come to the polls and that they are getting into their fall routine and have an opportunity to find time during the day to make it to their polling location."
Powers said she anticipates at least a few days of early voting before the preliminary election, but that decision is up to the city council.
