Candidate Forums Set to Inform Needham Voters

August 5, 2024
• With the primaries less than a month away, the League of Women Voters of Needham is gearing up for a series of candidate forums for several contested races.

A number of issues and candidates are on the ballot for Needham voters this September and November. The League of Women Voters, a non-partisan civic engagement advocacy organization, will host a non-biased, neutral platform to educate voters on those seeking office.

The Democrat and Republican primaries are Tuesday, Sept. 3. The general election is Nov. 5.

Four Democrats and one Republican are vying for a vacant seat on the Governor’s Council, an eight-member board that votes on judicial appointments, issues pardons, certifies state election results, authorizes Treasury expenditures and approves other office appointments, including notaries public and justices of the peace. The open seat is in District 2 of the council.

It’s an important position but one many voters don’t fully understand, Needham LWV Voter Services Chair Jen Geraci said. This primary will also take place under unusual circumstances.

“The Governor’s Council seat was vacated by one of the candidates who’s running now for the clerk of courts, Robert Jubinville,” Geraci said. “He stepped down in the middle of the term, so the seat remained open, so I don’t think it’s typically a seat that does get vacated. I think that that’s highly unusual to see.”

The clerk of courts primary is also contested, but neither Jubinville nor his opponent Walter Timilty responded to the League’s inquiries, meaning there will not be a forum for those candidates, according to the LWV.

District 2 on the Governor’s Council represents more than 30 communities, including Needham, Medfield, Dover and Foxborough. The League will host a Zoom forum for the candidates on Monday, Aug. 5 at 4 p.m.

The Democratic candidates for District 2 on the Governor’s Council include Tamisha Civil, of Stoughton, Muriel Kramer, of Hopkinton, Sean Murphy, of Bridgewater, and Needham’s David Reservitz. Republican Francis Crimmins Jr. is also on the ballot.

The race for the Norfolk County register of deeds looks to be an interesting matchup: Incumbent Bill O’Donnell, who was first elected in 2004, is up against challenger Noel DiBona, who previously worked at the Registry of Deeds as its director of administrative services.

Elected to a six-year term, the register of deeds manages each county’s property records. The League’s Aug. 15 Zoom event at 4 p.m. is supported by other local LWV chapters, given that Norfolk County encompasses 28 municipalities.

The most visible local race in this year’s cycle is the one for state representative, which comes after Rep. Denise Garlick decided not to seek reelection to her long-held position. Garlick, who ran uncontested for the majority of her elections, will be replaced by one of five candidates.

Four Democratic candidates — all of whom hail from Needham — will participate in the League’s forum on Aug. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Needham Town Hall.

The last time Garlick faced a challenger was in 2018, when Needham’s Ted Steinberg ran on the Democratic primary ballot. Garlick first ran for office in 2010, where she faced competition from fellow Democrats and Republican John O’Leary in the general election.

Geraci drew a comparison between Steinberg — then in his mid-20s — with current candidate Ken Ruetenik, who is 24 years old. Needham LWV President Carol Patey also noted, in 2010, that current Select Board member and former Finance Committee member Josh Levy ran in the Republican primary against O’Leary, ultimately losing.

Ruetenik will appear at the forum alongside fellow Democratic candidates Joshua Tarsky and Patrick Gatto, as well as write-in candidate Bhuren Patel. Under LWV guidance, Patey said they had the option to include Patel in the forum, and given the number of his campaign signs around town, they decided to do so.

“He is running an active campaign, he was very visible,” Geraci said of Patel. “And for that primary reason that he was out there — he had set up funds, campaign funding, and so it felt like he was somebody that should be considered and that the voters should be informed about this candidate as well.”

After the primary, the League plans to invite Bill Dermody, who is running unenrolled in the general election, to another forum, Geraci said.

State elections tend to draw out more voters than local ones, Geraci and Patey said, and with the presidential election this November, contested races in Norfolk County and the state will likely be determined by a larger number of voters.

Also up for consideration this fall are five ballot questions, which Patey anticipates will increase voter turnout. The League will put out information on those questions in the coming months.

“That will certainly bring out people, too. I know that always does, and these are a couple of controversial ones,” Patey said of the ballot questions. “A lot of money probably will go into those, and then that means a lot of advertising and a lot of awareness.”

Geraci said she feels this election cycle will be one to watch.

“They’re interesting races,” Geraci said. “It’s going to be kind of fun to see how it all plays out.”