WESTBROOK — Republicans and Democrats are getting ready to nominate a slate of candidates for three expiring terms on the City Council and four expiring terms on the School Board.

Up for reelection this year is the Ward 3 council seat of Anna Turcotte, the Ward 4 seat of Gary Rairdon and the At-Large seat of John O’Hara. Turcotte joined the council in 2015 and Rairdon in 2013. O’Hara was first elected to the council in 1996 and has served continuously since 2000.

On the school side, the seats of Steven Berry, Ward 1;Veronica Bates, Ward 2; James Violette, Ward 5; and Odilia Harmon, At-Large, are all up for re-election.

The Westbrook Republican City Committee will caucus Tuesday, Sept. 4, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Westbrook Community Center on Bridge Street. Voter registration will take place for an hour, beginning at 6 p.m.

The Westbrook Democratic Committee is set to caucus for open positions on the two boards on Thursday, Sept. 6, also at the Community Center. Voter registration begins that night at 5 p.m. and the caucus will begin at 6 p.m. 

With less than a month until the caucus, Westbrook Democratic Committee Chairman David Morse said he was unaware who may be looking for the Democratic nod.

“While I assume several of the incumbents will be seeking renomination, I am not certain of any individual’s intentions,” he said Aug. 9. “There is no incumbent Democrat for the Ward 4 City Council seat or the At-Large City Council seat.”

Morse said the caucus will also elect a new chairman, vice-chairman, secretary and treasurer to serve for the next two years.

Representatives from the Westbrook Republican City Committee could not be reached for comment about their caucus.

City Clerk Angela Holmes said although candidates are nominated via the Democratic and Republican caucuses, political party is not listed on the ballot.

“Even if you are nominated by your party’s caucus, your political party is not printed on the ballot, which always frustrates some people,” she said.

The caucus is only one of the ways candidates can get their name on the ballot for the Nov. 6 election. Holmes said individuals who fail to win their party caucus or don’t want their party nomination to appear on the ballot can take out nomination papers, which are available now and due back by Friday, Sept. 7. Nomination papers are available through the city clerk’s office.

Individuals seeking an At-Large seat must return nomination papers with the signatures of 15 to 25 voters from each of the city’s five wards. Individuals seeking ward-specific seats need to include the signatures of 25 to 50 voters from that area of the city.

Holmes said as of the morning of Aug. 13, only one individual, Kristen Beahm, has returned nomination papers.  Beahm is running to unseat Bates on the school committee.

Bates, the current chair of the finance committee, was first elected to the school committee in 2011 and said she is seeking re-election.

Berry joined the board in 2015, fending off a recount campaign by then-incumbent Alex Stone. Harmon came aboard in March 2017 to replace Suzanne Salisbury after she resigned from the post.

Violette, the committee’s chairman, has been serving since on the board since he was appointed to it in 2010. Prior to that he spent a dozen years on the city council, serving as chairman three of his four terms.

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