Campaign questions loom as Town Caucus nears

Update: Concordians will now gather at the Town House this coming Tuesday evening for the 2026 Town Caucus. 

The event was originally scheduled for Monday, January 26. Looming winter weather forced a 24-hour postponement. Officials announced the change Friday afternoon, after this week’s print edition of The Acton Bridge went to press.

The March ballot will include single vacancies on the Select Board, School Committee, and Housing Authority. The position of town moderator is also up for grabs.

Unlike in 2025, candidates have been slower to publicly declare plans this season. Some observers worry hard-hitting politics might be discouraging potential hopefuls. 

As of press time, education technology executive Drew Magliozzi had announced a run for the School Committee, as had former Finance Committee Chair Dean Banfield for Select Board and current FinCom Clerk Karlen Reed for moderator, each doing so in a letter to the editor of The Bridge.

Incumbent Stephan Bader told The Bridge he plans to seek another term on the Housing Authority. 

John Grace, a contractor who faces a criminal charge for allegedly erecting displays targeting schools Superintendent Laurie Hunter, has picked up nominating papers for the Select Board and School Committee. 

Reed was the first to declare, and Magliozzi followed in mid-December. Banfield announced January 17.

Last election cycle, every candidate declared their intent to run in letters to the editor of The Bridge weeks before the caucus. Campaign finance filings show several also got a head start raising and spending money.

Select Board member Paul Boehm said the publicly quiet start to this election season is “somewhat weird.”

As for tactics, “if it looks like a bruising slugfest, I would suggest that there will be fewer people who are interested in running for office,” outgoing moderator Carmin Reiss said during a December League of Women Voters forum. 

How it works 

Candidates historically don’t speak on their own behalf at the caucus but often are in attendance as supporters make nomination speeches. To advance, each nomination must be seconded.  

The caucus, a relative rarity in Massachusetts, is one of two ways for a candidate to get on the Acton ballot.  

Current Select Board Chair Mark Howell and School Committee member Carrie Rankin have opted against seeking reelection in 2026.

After Howell bowed out, Select Board Clerk Wendy Rovelli said she’d heard about people who had been “sort of approached” as possible candidates. “But they’re still working full time,” she said, “and it’s a hard thing to do if you’re working full time.” 

Last spring’s campaign featured its share of sharp exchanges between candidates and their surrogates. 

Speaking at the League of Women Voters event, Rankin said she thinks caustic campaigns are “a deterrent for people to get involved.” 

Much of the session centered on whether sitting officials should endorse candidates for seats on their panels. 

A divide over endorsements

Concordian Janet Rothrock argued that incumbents should stay out of the fray because their endorsements could discourage voters from independently evaluating candidates.

School Committee member Sandeep Pisharody said he couldn’t attend the LWV session but wrote a letter to organizers. In one section, he warned that silencing sitting officials would simply push their influence “behind closed doors.”

As a political newcomer, Pisharody won support from School Committee members when he ran last year. He said that kind of help can be “a lifeline” to people without broad name recognition or longtime local connections. 

In early 2025, then-Select Board Chair Mary Hartman flagged incumbents’ endorsements as “problematic.” She struck a different tone at the LWV event, saying that “we might be overemphasizing” endorsements’ importance.

She told The Bridge she will keep a no-endorsement promise as a sitting Select Board member but isn’t “going to hold it against people” if they choose to weigh in. 

Select Board member Cameron McKennitt lent his support to 2025 candidates Elizabeth Akehurst-Moore and Joe Laurin. He said ahead of the caucus that he has no plans to endorse in 2026 but thinks it’s “well within people’s rights” to do so. 

Acton’s voter turnout has ticked up in recent years as residents settled a series of contested races.

McKennitt told The Bridge it’s “always beneficial to have more people involved.” 

There are “important issues and opportunities in the town where people weigh in with different facts and opinions,” he said, and this should continue “in a constructive, respectful manner.”

Pisharody told The Bridge that he hopes Concordians will “keep showing up with energy, respect, and a shared commitment” to making the town stronger. 

He lauded residents for asking hard questions.

“While it looks messy at times,” he said, “it is the clearest sign of a healthy local democracy, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” 

The 2026 Town Caucus is set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 27, at the Town House, 22 Monument Square.

Next week’s Select Board meeting, originally scheduled for Monday, is also postponed due to the weather forecast. It will now start at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, also at the Town House. 

January 23, 2:42 p.m.: This story has been updated.