Everything To Know For Arlington's 2026 Town Election

ARLINGTON, MA — Residents will head to the polls on Saturday, March 28 to vote in the 2026 town election that features multiple contested races.

Polls will be open between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., with each of the town’s 21 precincts having its own in-person voting location. The deadline to register to vote was Wednesday, March 18. Early voting was then open for one week before coming to a close on Wednesday, March 25.

Leading off the contested races on the ballot is the race for a one-year term on the School Committee, with three candidates vying for one open position. Dmitry Vasilyev, Shuan Berry, and Crystal Haynes Copithorne are all hoping to earn their first opportunity to join the board. The other contested race is that of Housing Authority, in which incumbent Nicholas Mitropoulos is being challenged by Jacob Deck for a five-year term.

Mitropoulos has served as a commissioner on Arlington’s Housing Authority Board since 2001.

Also on the School Committee, incumbents Paul Schlichtman, Laura Gitelson, and Elizabeth Exton are all running unopposed to be re-upped in their current roles. Exton is a long-tenured public school teacher who was first elected to the Committee in 2020. Gitelson is currently the Committee’s Vice Chair and is seeking her second consecutive term.

Two Select Board seats are open, with one candidate running unopposed for each. Incumbent Diane Mahon is seeking reelection to a 10th consecutive term. Mahon is a lifelong Arlington resident who works as a court reporter. She is currently the longest-tenured member of the Select Board.

Meanwhile, Joseph Solomon is running for the seat that is in need of filling with interim member Jane P. Morgan’s temporary term expiring. Solomon is a Town Meeting member and vice chair of the Capital Planning Committee. He works as a process improvement leader for private companies.

The Board of Assessors vote rounds out the office positions with incumbent and current Chair Mary Winstanley O’Connor running unopposed for the role she has held for 25 years.

Voters will have to say “yes” or “no” to two ballot questions. The first being the ever-controversial topic of a Proposition 2 1/2 tax override request worth $14.8 million. The second question involves possibly giving the Select Board the ability to authorize two new alcohol licenses to businesses looking to sell product not to be consumed on premises, which could bring new liquor stores to the town.

Patch will report the election results as soon as they are made available.

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