Banfield bests Hiersteiner in Select Board race

Dean Banfield said he started his election day with a win on the hockey rink. He ended it with an apparent win at the ballot box. 

Banfield claimed victory in this year’s contested Select Board race after initial tallies showed him leading opponent Sam Hiersteiner. Unofficial Tuesday night results from the Town Clerk’s Office put his advantage at 1,651 votes to Hiersteiner’s 1,467. 

“I hope to be able to serve the town responsibly going forward,” Banfield told an election night crowd at the Acton Armory. 

Despite his defeat, Hiersteiner called his campaign “such a good experience.” 

The results “bear out that we were able to create some interest in a race that otherwise probably wouldn’t have been very well followed,” he told The Acton Bridge. 

Concordians cast a total of 3,152 ballots per the unofficial count, representing 22% of eligible voters. 

Running unopposed, Drew Magliozzi, Karlen Reed, and incumbent Stephan Bader cruised into office for School Committee, town moderator, and Housing Authority, respectively. 

An ‘asymmetric campaign’

Banfield campaigned on his experience as a volunteer and environmental advocate well-versed in Acton government. 

Hiersteiner pushed to bring a younger generation of Concordians into the civic process and said the town could benefit from “new perspectives.” 

After weeks of stumping, Banfield said he started his Tuesday with his 6:30 a.m. ice time at West Acton’s Valley Sports Arenas. By 8:30 a.m., he was making the rounds of polling places, holding campaign signs at each stop with his network of volunteers. 

As he waved to voters, Banfield, a retired IT executive, remarked on an “asymmetric campaign” that continued through election day. 

Hiersteiner, who helps lead a civic education non-profit, opened with a social media blitz and added in-person events later in the election cycle. 

Banfield eschewed social media — to the chagrin of some supporters — and focused on face-to-face campaigning in coffee shops and living rooms.

Hiersteiner outraised and outspent Banfield in the run-up to election day, campaign finance filings showed. 

Although he had to spend part of Tuesday at his day job, Hiersteiner found time to greet voters at the Hunt Recreation Center. One driver rolled down her window and shouted that she’d voted for him. He offered his thanks in reply.

READ OUR LIVE ELECTION NIGHT COVERAGE HERE

‘My duty’

Concordian John Hickling said election workers told him he was the first voter of the day when he showed up at Hunt around 7:15 a.m. 

“We all have to exercise this right,” he told The Bridge.

Hickling served alongside Banfield on the Finance Committee and endorsed him ahead of election day. Still, he found it “very disappointing” that there was only one competitive race.

“I wish we had more contested elections,” he said, “and therefore more discussion and debate.”

Some voted out of a sense of civic responsibility: “It’s my duty” to vote, resident Anne Colman told The Bridge at her Harvey Wheeler Community Center poll site.

Carolyn Fagan, who brought her young daughter Daphne with her to the polls, said that as a new resident of Acton, she voted as a way “to feel more involved with the community.”

‘A lot of respect’

The election winners will take office after this year’s Town Meeting, to be held this month. 

They’re part of a changing of the guard, of sorts, after incumbent Select Board Chair Mark Howell, incumbent School Committee member Carrie Rankin, and longtime Town Moderator Carmin Reiss opted against seeking reelection. 

Banfield, Hiersteiner, Bader, and Reed, and dozens more were among the crowd at the the second annual “Celebrate Democracy” gathering. Magliozzi was out of town attending to a family matter. 

The Select Board contenders shook hands shortly before 9:30 p.m. Hiersteiner conceded, and Banfield took the floor.

This year’s voting fell short of the 34% turnout for last year’s election, which featured competitive races for Select Board and School Committee. 

It was still better than the 14% turnout seen in 2023, the last time Acton had just one contested race on the town ballot. 

Reiss approached Hiersteiner in the crowd and said she hopes he’ll stay involved. “I will,” he answered. 

Banfield thanked his campaign volunteers during his victory speech and huddled with the group at a table as they relived the race. Sipping a celebratory glass of prosecco, he acknowledged that Hiersteiner “did run a good campaign.”

“I have a lot of respect for him,” he said.