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4 incumbent Taunton city councilors not running for re-election. Who is and isn't running?

The deadline to turn in nomination papers to run for local elected office in Taunton has come and gone, and this year voters will have plenty of options on the ballot. There will also be some new faces on the City Council, School Committee and Planning Board next year — with four incumbent city councilors, one incumbent School Committee member and one incumbent Planning Board member not seeking re-election. On the City Council, incumbents Chris Coute, Larry Quintal, Jeffrey Postell and Estele Borges are not running for re-election. Borges is instead making a run for mayor. On the School Committee, incumbent Gill Enos is not running for re-election, but is instead running for TMLP. On the Planning Board, incumbent William 'Bill' Fitzgerald is not running for re-election but is instead running for City Council. In all, 20 candidates turned in papers to run for City Council; seven candidates for the TMLP Commission; sixteen candidates for School Committee; eleven candidates for the Planning Board; eleven candidates for Zoning Board of Appeals; and three candidates for mayor. A city-wide election for those six offices and boards will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 4. However, the volume of candidates who have turned in nomination papers means that the city will likely hold a preliminary election to narrow the field of candidates in some races on Tuesday, Sept. 23. Here's whose running for local office in Taunton in 2025. City could see up to three preliminary elections In Taunton municipal elections, which are non-partisan, if the number of candidates for an office is at least twice the number of open seats, plus one, the city holds a preliminary election to narrow the field. That means there will be prelinary elections for mayor, TMLP and City Council if all the candidates who turned in nomination papers make it onto the ballot. Taunton Elections Director Mark Pacheco said that it is too early to say for sure whether there are enough candidates to require a preliminary election. He said that even though the deadline to turn in nomination papers was Tuesday, Aug. 5, it is possible that some candidates who turned in nomination papers may not appear on the ballot. Pacheco said that candidates have until Aug. 21 to withdraw from the election should they wish to withdraw. Pacheco also said that his office had not yet finished verifying the signatures of voters that candidates are required to provide when turning in their nomination papers. (In Taunton, to appear on the ballot candidates must provide 25 signatures from voters). In addition, in one instance the residency of a candidate running for mayor, Rudy Alves, has been challenged, and it is possible he may be deemed ineligible to run for office. "Nothing is set in stone yet," Pacheco said. According to data from the Taunton Elections Department, the following candidates have turned in nomination papers to run for office in Taunton. Who's running for mayor? Rude 'Rudy' Alves Estele Borges, current city councilor Shaunna O'Connell, current mayor Who's running for City Council? Twenty candidates turned in nomiation papers to run for the nine-member City Council: Robert Anderson Jr. Debra Botellio Deborah Carr David Chaves Edward Correira Brian Desilva Phillip Duarte, current city councilor William 'Bill' Fitzgerald, current Planning Board member Evan Francis Phillip Gaspar Edna Isaac Jean P. Marcoux Jr. School Martin, current city councilor John McCaul, current city councilor Thomas Pemberton David Pottier, current city councilor Robert Rooney Barry Sanders, current city councilor Colleen Simmons Bruce Thomas Who's running for School Committee? Sixteen candidates turned in nomination papers to run for the School Committee, which has eight members plus the mayor, who serves by virtue of her office: Dennis Ackerman, current Zoning Board of Appeals member and current Planning Board member Victoria Barreiro Heather Baylies-Grigoreas Donna Chaves, current School Committee member Gregory DeMelo, current School Committee member and current TMLP commissioner Christine Fagan, current School Committee member John Joyce, current Zoning Board of Appeals member Tanya Lobo Louis Loura, current School Committee member George Moniz Jr., current Planning Board member and current Zoning Board of Appeals member Tyler Mosher Kerrie Mullen Nathan Pawlowski, current School Committee member Alison Rosa Melissa Santos, current School Committee member Steven Vieira, current School Committee member and current Zoning Board of Appeals member Who's running for Zoning Board of Appeals? Eleven candidates have turned in papers to run for the five regular seats and two alternate seats on the Zoning Board of Appeals: Dennis Ackerman, current Zoning Board of Appeals member and current Planning Board member Edward Correira John Coutinho John Doherty, current alternate member of the Zoning Board of Appeals Craig Faria, current Zoning Board of Appeals member John Joyce, current Zoning Board of Appeals member John Lopes George Moniz Jr., current Planning Board member and current Zoning Board of Appeals member Peter Thomas Seth Turner, current alternate member of the Zoning Board of Appeals Steven Viera, current School Committee member and current Zoning Board of Appeals member Who's running for Planning Board? Eleven candidates have turned in papers to run for the seven-member Planning Board: Anthony Abreau, current Planning Board member Dennis Ackerman, current Planning Board member Brian Carr, current Planning Board member John Coutinho Jordan Fiore Jean P. Marcoux Jr. George Moniz Jr., current Planning Board member and current Zoning Board of Appeals member Thomas Pemberton John Reardon, current Planning Board member Scott Rodrigues, current Planning Board member Peter Thomas Who's running for TMLP? Seven candidates have turned in papers to run for the three seats on the TMLP Commission: Barry Amaral Peter Corr, current TMLP commissioner John Coutinho Gregory DeMelo, current School Committee member and current TMLP commissioner Gill Enos, current School Committee member Timothy Hebert William Strojny, current TMLP commissioner What's the difference between a preliminary and primary? The terms "primary" and "preliminary" election sound similar but describe different types of elections. Primaries are within a political party, with voters choosing which candidate will represent that party in a general election. "Preliminary" elections, on the other hand, refer to non-partisan elections held to winnow down the number of candidates going into general elections. Taunton has non-partisan elections, which means it holds preliminary elections when the number of candidates meets the minimum threshold. Taunton Elections Department Director Mark Pacheco said the standard formula for triggering a preliminary election is when the number of candidates is at least double the number of seats, plus one — so for a nine-member board, for example, there would need to be 19 candidates to trigger a preliminary election, and just one candidate would be eliminated in the preliminary in that case, with 18 moving on to the general election in November. With reporting by Dan Schemer This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton election 2025 — who is and isn't running for City Council