Braintree Election Preview 2023

BRAINTREE, MA — The race for Braintree mayor will be decided in less than a week, as the town's municipal elections are scheduled for Nov. 7.

Patch has been publishing candidate profiles for many of the contested races, including both Mayor Charles Kokoros and mayoral candidate Erin Joyce.

Voters will elect a mayor, councilors-at-large, ward councilors and school committee members this November. Here's what to know ahead of the big day:

Election Day Voting

Election Day is scheduled for Nov. 7 with polls set to open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. With a mayoral race on the ballot, all registered voters have a contested race to vote in, even if their council race is uncontested.

To find your voting district and voting center, click here.

Mayor

The mayoral race will once again see Charles Kokoros running for re-election. He has served as mayor since his election in 2019 and, before that, had a decade-plus run as a Town Councilor in District 1.

Kokoros is challenged by another familiar face in Braintree politics in Erin Joyce. Joyce has served as an appointed member of the Braintree Planning Board for the last eight years, serving as chairperson for the last three years.

For Kokoros, school building repairs would be among his top priorities in his next term, if elected. He cites the new South Middle School and other improvements like roofing at elementary schools as signs of progress, but said there is more work to be done.

"After assessing all of our school buildings I saw firsthand how much our schools were in disrepair," he said of the status of the buildings at the beginning of his tenure.

" Over my next term, I want to be able to make major improvements to our elementary schools and partner with the Massachusetts School Building Authority to repair or replace Braintree High School."

For Joyce, however, she believes the town has failed in the past few years when it comes to setting up plans for long-term fiscal stability.

"Braintree has stagnated in the past few years due to a lack of long-term strategic planning with our budget and our town departments and we spend too much time on short-term quick fixes with no consideration of long-term implications," Joyce said.

"We need to be proactive about revitalizing blighted and underutilized commercial zones, create a streamlined permitting process, open Braintree up for business, and go after federal and state grant monies - if not we risk tax increases that may not be palatable for many residents or we cut services in our schools and community."

School Committee

The School Committee should have provided a third contested race in Braintree. Technically it still is, but functionally no.

In October, candidate Christopher Peters shared a message explaining his decision to exit the race, stating that family and work demands were too great to add a committee responsibility to his schedule.

Peters' name will still appear on the ballot due to the timing of this decision, but he said he would decline the seat if he were to be elected.

The ripple effects of this decision will be felt most by the other three candidates, who will now sleep easier on the days leading up to the election. There were only three seats up for grabs in the election meaning that, effectively, the race is now uncontested.

Other Races

In addition to Braintree's mayoral race, voters will elect three councilor-at-large positions, one district councilor for each of the town's six districts, three School Committee members, five Library Board of Trustees, one position on the Electric Light Board and two positions on the Housing Authority.

Many of these races are uncontested, however, with only one contested district councilor race — District 6 — and a now uncontested School Committee slate after Christopher Peters announced he would decline the seat if elected.

Here's who's running in District 6:

• Mark Doucette
• Peter Morin