Shahidul Mannan (left) and Mary Jo LaFreniere (seated) campaign Monday, when they were elected to the Select Board. PHOTO/JOHN CARDILLO

Shahidul Mannan was the top vote-getter for the two open Select Board seats in Monday’s Town Election, while incumbent Mary Jo LaFreniere finished second and will retain her position.

In unofficial results released Monday night by Town Clerk Connor Degan, Mannan finished with 1,431 votes, while LaFreniere was close behind with 1,381. Both are Democrats.

Republican John Coutinho, who was looking to return to the Select Board after serving two terms before losing his seat last year, finished third with 899 votes.

The other most-discussed races were for the three School Committee seats, and the candidates who pushed for the earlier removal of face coverings during the pandemic came up on the losing end. [Editor’s note: While Ashley Fogg supported an earlier in-person return to school, she states that she did not publicly push for the mask requirement to be lifted until the state announced an end to the mandate.]

The closest race was for the two-year seat, where Democrat Holly Morand defeated independent Ashley Fogg, 1,164-894.

In the race for the one-year seat, Jennifer Devin defeated fellow Democrat Jared Pray, 1,327-716.

The two-year and one-year seats came open following the resignations of Meg Tyler and Joe Markey earlier this year.

Democrat Nancy Richards-Cavanaugh, the current chair, was reelected to another three-year term with 1,494 votes. Republican Chris Melton, who ceased campaigning, received 517 votes.

“I’m obviously pleased to have won and thankful to all who supported me,” Richards-Cavanaugh shared. “I’m also thankful to all who stepped up to run — I think contested races increase participation in the process and engagement with the issues and ultimately result in better representation of the town. I look forward to being back to a full committee and working with both Jenn and Holly.”

There were two other contested races. The Housing Authority five-year seat went to Nancy Drawe, who collected 1,365 votes to 619 for Linda Di Bona, who did not campaign.

The constable two-year position went to Beth Malloy, who was appointed to fill the role following the death last fall of Frank D’Urso. Malloy had 1,050 votes. Michael Torosian (538 votes) and John Cardillo (351) were the other candidates.

All six questions on the ballot passed. The only close vote was Question 6, which dealt with funding the replacement of the turf field at Fruit Street. It passed 1,287-830. It also passed — by a more substantial margin — at Annual Town Meeting earlier this month.

While the results are not official, Degan indicated there shouldn’t be any major changes to the totals — certainly not enough to change any outcomes.

“Official results should be prepared in the next coming weeks, but for the most part these results will be pretty finalized,” he said. “We’ll just be adding any remaining hand counts into the process as well as tabulating write-ins.”

Degan also noted there was a large number of absentee ballots due in part to people in COVID quarantine.

ELECTION CANDIDATES
(Votes listed for contested races only)

Select Board (3 years, vote for 2)
Mary Jo LaFreniere, Democrat* (incumbent), 1,381 votes
John Coutinho, Republican*, 899 votes
Shahidul Mannan, Democrat*, 1,431 votes

School Committee (3 years, vote for 1)
Nancy Richards-Cavanaugh, Democrat* (incumbent), 1,494 votes
Christopher Melton, Republican, 517 votes

School Committee (2 years, vote for 1)
Ashley Fogg, Unenrolled, 894 votes
Holly Morand, Democrat*, 1,164 votes

School Committee (1 year, vote for 1)
Jennifer Devlin, Democrat*, 1,327 votes
Jared Pray, Democrat, 716 votes

Board of Assessors (3 years, vote for 1)
Peter Mimmo, Democrat*

Board of Health (3 years, vote for 1)
Richard Jacobs, Unenrolled (incumbent)

Board of Library Trustees (3 years, vote for 2)
Susan Porter, Democrat* (incumbent)
David Dollenmayer, Democrat

Board of Library Trustees (2 years, vote for 1)
Anne Beauchamp, Democrat*

Cemetery Commission (3 years, vote for 1)
Kyla McSweeney, Democrat* (incumbent)

Cemetery Commission (2 years, vote for 1)
Linda Kimball, Unenrolled

Commissioners of Parks & Recreation (3 years, vote for 1)
Cynthia Esthimer, Democrat* (incumbent)

Commissioners of Trust Funds (3 years, vote for 1)
Susan Kurys, Democrat* (incumbent)

Constable (3 years, vote for 1)
Michael Hayes, Democrat* (incumbent)

Constable (2 years, vote for 1)
John Cardillo, Unenrolled, 351 votes
Beth Malloy, Democrat*, 1,050 votes
Michael Torosian, Unenrolled, 538 votes

Housing Authority (5 years, vote for 1)
Linda Di Bona, Republican*, 619 votes
Nancy Drawe, Democrat*, 1,365 votes

Housing Authority (2 years, vote for 1)
Rebeka Hoffman, Democrat* (incumbent)

Planning Board (5 years, vote for 2)
Maria Elyse Barrett Mihajloski, Democrat*
Ronny Priefer, Democrat*

Planning Board (1 year, vote for 1)
Francis DeYoung, Unenrolled (incumbent)

Town Clerk (3 years, vote for 1)
Connor Degan, Democrat* (incumbent)

Town Moderator (3 years, vote for 1)
Ellen Rutter, Democrat*

* Denotes caucus nominee

BALLOT QUESTIONS

Question 1: Shall the Town of Hopkinton be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to purchase a replacement fire engine for Fire Engine 2, including equipment related to the operation and use of said fire engine? Passes 1,671-431 votes

Question 2: Shall the Town of Hopkinton be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to pay for upgrades and repairs in the vicinity of Fire Station No. 2 (Woodville)? Passes, 1,635-459 votes

Question 3: Shall the Town of Hopkinton be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to perform repair work on the Lake Maspenock Dam Area? Passes, 1,578-497 votes

Question 4: Shall the Town of Hopkinton be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to pay for the replacement of air handling units in the Middle School and High School buildings, including any planning, design, engineering, construction or associated costs or expenses related thereto? Passes, 1,662-443 votes

Question 5: Shall the Town of Hopkinton be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to pay the increased costs related to the Marathon School Addition project, approved by vote of the 2021 Annual Town Meeting, pursuant to Article 17 of said Town Meeting’s warrant, including any planning, design, engineering, construction or associated costs or expenses related thereto? Passes, 1,447-644 votes

Question 6: Shall the Town of Hopkinton be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to replace the Fruit Street Turf Field including any planning, design, engineering, construction or associated costs or expenses related thereto? Passes, 1,287-830 votes