Complete Burlington Town Election Results: Foss And Bond Elected

BURLINGTON, MA — Katherine Bond and Carl Foss were elected to the Burlington School Committee Saturday, in a tightly-contested four-way race, according to unofficial results from the town. Foss led with 1,415 votes, followed by Bond with 1,309.

Incumbent Stephen Nelson lost his seat on the Committee after more than two decades, receiving 1,266 votes. Town Meeting Member Adam Senesi received 1,121.

Top vote-getter Foss is a teacher (in Lowell) and a town meeting member. He argued the most-pressing issue for the Committee is supporting the district's "most vulnerable populations." He argued his experience as an educator gave him an important front-line viewpoint, and promised to improve communication between the Committee and families.

Bond works in business logistics and said her business experience would provide a useful perspective to the Committee. She cited challenges like rebuilding, renovation and budgeting among the district's key issues.

Polls closed in Burlington at 8 p.m., after months of early and absentee voting and 12 hours at the polls. Turnout was 2,756, or 16.63 percent of eligible voters; that just beats the 2019 number, 16.14 percent.

The election was delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak, but state law allowed an expansion of early and absentee voting. The town undertook measures to reduce the risk of spreading the virus at the polls, as well.

All seven precincts also had town meeting members to elect, and a number of other town offices had uncontested races, including the moderator and one Board of Selectmen seat.

Election Results

Unofficial results. Winners printed in bold type. Candidates for re-election are marked with an asterisk (*). Percentages may not add up to exactly 100 due to rounding.

The full unofficial results are available here.

School Committee (3 yr) (2 seats)

Shawsheen Tech School Committee (3 yr) (1 seat)

Town Meeting Members

The following candidates were elected to Burlington Town Meeting:

Precinct 1: Gary Gianino, Nolan Glantz, Bruce Morey, Carol Perna, Jayashree Voruganti, Lori Glantz, Lori Glantz (one-year term).

Precinct 2: Catherine Beyer, Nancy DeCarlucci, Amanda Laskowski, George Papayannis, Clayton Davison, Thomas Grelley

Precinct 3: James Frost, Gary Mercier, Monte Pearson, Daniel Raske, Roger Riggs, Jeffrey Dibona

Precinct 4: Craig Callahan, Karen Cooper, Erin Ellis, Michael Proulx, Schiffon Wong, Ryan Decoste

Precinct 5: Robert Bunker II, Frank O'Brien, Michele Prendergast, David Tait, Richard Wing, Bonnie Nichols, Mark Donahue (one-year term).

Precinct 6: John Cormier, John Iler, Rose Manni, Edward Cronin Parsons, Gayle Damore, Maura DiTucci, Maura DiTucci (two-year term)

Precinct 7: Betsey Hughes, Kevin Keene, Scott Martin, Jonathan Sachs, David Webb, John D. Kelly

Uncontested races

The following candidates were re-elected or elected in uncontested races: Moderator William Beyer, Selectman Jim Tigges, Assessor Kevin Sheehan, Library Trustees Hiral Gandhi and Adam Woodbury, Planning Board Members Ernest Covino, Jr., and William Gaffney, Two-Year Term Planning Board Member Brenda Rappaport, Board of Health Member Maribeth Welch and Recreation Committee Member Kevin Sullivan.

In the hotly-contested School Committee race, the four candidates were separated by just over five percent, with each earning more than 20 percent of the vote.

In picking Bond and Foss, the district split the difference of a controversial campaign mailer by three sitting School Committee members, which endorsed Bond and fellow-incumbent Nelson.

"I would like to thank the voters of Burlington for all of the support they gave me over the course of this extended campaign," Foss said. "It was truly a team effort and I couldn't have done it alone."

Foss attributed his victory to focusing his campaign on ideas and issues.

"Looking forward, I am ready to hit the ground running to work with the rest of the committee and district administration to build on past successes and face the pressing challenges head on," he said.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.

An earlier version of this story listed the incorrect winners in Precinct 5. It has been corrected.