BURLINGTON WEATHER

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Burlington held its annual town election on Saturday, April 11, and the votes are in.

More voters turned out than last year, with 3,642 total voters casting a ballot according to preliminary results from the Town Clerk's office. This number represents an 18.5% turnout among registered voters, but that percentage is closer to 21% when calculated over eligible voters – which is historically how turnout has been reported once results are finalized.

Last year's turnout was 3,358 (18.6% of registered voters), and turnout in 2024 was 3,826 (22.1% of eligible voters). This brings the average voter total over the last three years to 3,608, up from the roughly 2,800 average from 2020 through 2023.

Over half those votes were cast early, with around 2,000 early in-person and absentee ballots counted.

In the contested School Committee race, Katherine Bond and Jeremy Brooks retained their seats with 2,036 and 1,974 votes respectively. Challenger Hillary Kleck received 1,636 votes, and Aaron Reeves lagged behind with 1,044. Note that these totals differ slightly from figures reported live on the BCAT Election Show, as early votes were not initially included in Reeves' count.

Both School Committee candidates said they'll focus on addressing the issue of an aging Burlington High School in their next term, among other initiatives.

Jack Kelly returns to his seat on the Planning Board after having stepped away in 2019 and following a loss last year in a contested race. Joe Impemba, who held this seat previously, withdrew from the race and retired from the Planning Board, effective the end of this term.

Newcomer Orysia Hanushevsky will be joining the Board of Health following the retirement of Maribeth Welch. Incumbent Jesse Angeley will remain on the Library Board of Trustees alongside Hiral Gandhi, who is returning to the Board after a three-year hiatus and stepping into the seat formerly held by Phil Gallagher.

Other town-wide roles were filled by unopposed incumbents:

  • Town Clerk: Jennifer Priest begins her first five-year term after winning a one-year seat last year.
  • Town Moderator: Bill Beyer retains the helm for a 10th consecutive one-year term.
  • Select Board: Jim Tigges will begin his fourth three-year term.
  • Board of Assessors: Kevin Sheehan will keep his seat.
  • Housing Authority: Brian Curtin returns.
  • Recreation Commission: Lindsay Carlson will begin her second term after winning in a contested race in 2023.
  • Shawsheen Tech School Committee: Kent Moffatt will retain the seat he won in 2020 as a write-in candidate.

There were six total contested Town Meeting races down the ballot, including two-year seats in Precincts 1 and 6 and a one-year seat in Precinct 7, as well as 3-year seats in Precincts 3, 4, and 5. Below is the list of winners. Open seats will likely be filled by write-in candidates.

Precinct 1 (3-year)

Christopher Campbell
Lorie Glantz
Nolan Glantz
Bruce Morey
Shayan Bhattacherya
Anthony McShea

Precinct 1 (2-year)

Vance Huntoon

Precinct 2 (3-year)

Catherine Beyer
Raymond Blenkhorn
Kevin Coluci
Christine Scola
Michael Madison
Open seat

Precinct 2 (1-year)

Open seat

Precinct 3 (3-year)

Jeffrey Dibona
Monte Pearson
Daniel Raske
Roger Riggs
Robert Young
Nicole Cella

Precinct 4 (3-year)

Karen Cooper
William Lisano
Michael Proulx
Kevin Spielberger
Schiffon Wong
Kerrie Callahan

Precinct 5 (3-year)

Bonnie Nichols
Michele Prendergast
Alex Rutfield
David Tait
Sarah Wolinski
Jason Toppan

Precinct 6 (3-year)

Ryan Clement
John Iler
Blaise Leeber III
Rose Manni
Edward Parsons
Adrianne Simeone

Precinct 6 (2-year)

Erika Maguire

Precinct 7 (3-year)

Joseph Busa
Betsey Hughes
Jonathan Sachs
Mark Smukler
David Webb
Open seat

Precinct 7 (2-year)

Open seat

Precinct 7 (1-year)

Neal Lespasio

It was a long evening, with final results from the contested races reported by the Town Clerk's office just after 11:00. Town Clerk Jennifer Priest said a number of factors contributed to the delay, including the fact that she is new in the role, still building a strong team, and was running her first town election. There were also new poll workers, as well as experienced workers who were filling new roles and doing tasks they hadn't done before.

There was also miscommunication in one precinct about what needed to be hand-counted, as well as a backlog in vote processing due to the higher-than-usual number of write-in candidates. Priest said there were no issues with the voting machines themselves.

"I'm keeping a list of corrective actions going forward to make these things run smoother in the future," said Priest, who, in the interest of transparency, offered to show any interested residents the steps that go into tallying votes.

Preliminary results are posted on the town website; Write-in candidates are expected to be notified and posted on Sunday, April 12, 2026.

To see the full results, watch the official Election 2026 Results Show on BCAT, hosted by Burlington Buzz's Nicci Kadilak and BNEWS's Chris Flaherty; for more Election 2026 coverage, head to the Burlington Buzz Election Corner and BCAT's Election Center.

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