Westbrook voters will weigh-in on a city council race and three school committee races in November, along with deciding whether to establish ranked-choice voting for municipal elections.
Ward 4 residents will decide between challenger Kristina Yurko and City Council President Gary Rairdon, who has represented the ward since 2013. The council terms are for three years.
At-large Councilor Mike Shaughnessy and Ward 3 Councilor Anna Turcotte are running unopposed for reelection.
For the school committee, newcomer Tracey Sardella is challenging at-large member Suzanne Salisbury, who serves as the committee’s finance chairperson and is a state representative. Salisbury has served on the school committee since 2008. School committee terms are three years.
Jessica Foley, who is married to Mayor Mike Foley, is challenging Jessica Moninski for the Ward 2 committee seat. Moninski was appointed to replace Nica Bates in March 2020.
In Ward 5, another newcomer, Brooke Reed, hopes to unseat Beth Schultz, who defeated longtime committee member and Chairperson Jim Violette in 2018.
In Ward 1, Katy Rice is running opposed for Steve Berry’s seat. Berry, elected in 2015, did not seek re-election.
Also on the local ballot Nov. 2 is a referendum to bring ranked-choice voting to municipal elections. If approved, ranked-choice voting would be used in the mayor’s race and to elect city councilors and other applicable local elected positions when there are three or more candidates in one race and no candidate has won by more than 50% of the votes.
Using the system, voters may rank the candidates in the order they prefer. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the popular vote, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and that candidate’s supporters’ second choices are then counted. The process continues until one candidate gets more than 50%.
The change would cost about an additional $25,000-$30,000 per election. City Clerk Angela Holmes said ranked-choice voting would have been applicable in four elections between 2013 and 2019, including two mayoral races.
All residents will vote at the Community Center gym at 426 Bridge St.
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