Despite Ending Campaign, Barr’s Name Remains
March 31, 2025
• The incumbent’s announcement to suspend her campaign poses some logistical complications.
When longtime School Committee member Connie Barr announced she would end her reelection bid, she was met with overwhelming support and well wishes.
“I’m from the Midwest, and any sort of attention is not something I like, which made this decision all the more difficult, because it meant drawing attention,” Barr said. “No, I did not expect that.”
Her desire to no longer seek office — after six terms on the committee — is “complicated and emotional,” she told Needham Local. The announcement came just one day before the League of Women Voters candidates’ night, where she planned to appear alongside the other five candidates. Barr said she watched the forum from afar.
Removing herself from consideration, however, does not remove her name from the ballot.
Town Clerk Louise Miller doesn’t characterize Barr’s decision as a withdrawal from the race, as the deadline to do so (March 4) already passed. Barr’s name appears on the mail-in ballots, of which there are at least 5,700, as well as in-person voting through Election Day. Some residents have already mailed back their ballots, Miller said.
Should Barr be one of the three candidates elected, two possible scenarios could play out: she could decline to be sworn in, which would be a failure to elect, or she could resign, both of which would trigger an appointment procedure for a one-year term.
“The Select Board are notified by the remaining School Committee members that there is a vacancy. They then post it for seven days, and anyone who is interested in applying would apply, and then there’s a joint meeting of the Select Board and the other members of the School Committee to appoint for the vacancy,” Miller said. “So it’s a process. There is a process in place.”
But long before the election cycle began, Barr said she seriously considered whether to run again.
“When I thought about running for School Committee, before anyone had taken papers out, I thought long and hard about it, because I think that sometimes change is really good,” Barr said. “At that time, I did not see that anyone had stepped forward that was known or likely to be an excellent candidate for the School Committee, so it was all unknown.”
That changed as the race progressed. In a message to supporters on her website, Barr backed newcomer Sri Baqri, as well as her colleagues Alisa Skatrud and Andrea Longo Carter. She said in an interview that the three candidates are well-positioned “to continue to take care of the kids, advocate for the kids that need them, and manage the challenges we have ahead.” They are each seeking one of three three-year terms, alongside Scott Marder and Leanne Ratti.
Two candidates for other offices notified Miller of their intent to withdraw, which must be done in writing before a notary (Miller is a notary). Once nomination papers are signed and certified, and the deadline for certification has passed, candidates cannot withdraw, she said.
Miller said she’s already fielded questions from voters about taking back their vote or crossing one vote out in exchange for another. After their ballots are cast, their votes cannot be changed, she said, and crossing out names on the ballot would invalidate all their other votes.
“If she’s decided that she does not want to serve as a School Committee member, there’s nothing wrong with her saying that and letting people know not to vote for her,” Miller said of Barr, “but her name is on the ballot, and I don’t know that everybody’s going to know.”
When asked about the possibility of being elected, Barr said “I think that’s not something that I have thought about.” She has been in touch with Miller since the announcement.
Barr looks back on her 18 years on the School Committee fondly.
“This has been probably the most significant and most engaging thing I’ve done in my life and career,” she said, “except for my family and my work, and perhaps my time on the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care board.”
