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Voter’s guide to Nov. 4 municipal election

By FCN on October 10, 2025

Here is information for voters regarding Newton’s November 4, 2025 municipal election: Candidate and their websites, candidate forums and interviews, a ballot question, and voting methods and hours. Some information is not yet available. Fig City News will update this guide as new information becomes available.

Jump to the following sections:

There will be no preliminary election in September. This year, 21 candidates (now 23) are running unopposed. On November 4, the only elections that will be contested are:

  • Mayor
  • Two Councilor-At-Large races (Ward 4 and 6)
  • Two Ward Councilor races (Wards 1 and 5)
    …now just Ward 5, since Kazakoff-Eigen has suspended his campaign
  • Five School Committee races (Wards 1, 2, 5, 6, and 8)
    …now just Wards 2, 5, 6 and 8, since Gibson has withdrawn

Candidates

Key: In the following list of candidates for each office (and in the accompanying table of candidates), candidates are listed in the order they will appear on the ballot and:

  • Uncontested elections are shaded gray and contested elections are shaded white.
  • Non-incumbents are shown in bold font.
  • Blue links are to candidates’ campaign websites.

Candidates’ names are listed here in the order and the spelling they will appear on the ballot.

Mayor (elected city-wide)

Albert Richard Cecchinelli Jr, Marc C. Laredo


At-Large Councilors (2 per ward, elected city-wide)

1: John R. Oliver, Alison Margaret Leary
2: Tarik Jamal Lucas, Susan S. Albright
3: Pamela A. Wright, Andrea W. Kelley
4: Cyrus Dahmubed, John Chaimanis, Joshua Barrett Krintzman
5: Rena L. Getz, Brittany Hume Charm
6: Lisa Rachelle Teusch Gordon, Theodore Noel Gross, Sean ND Roche
7: Brian Paul Golden, Becky Grossman  
8: David Alan Kalis, Jacob Silber



Ward Councilors (1 per ward, elected by ward)

1: Jonathon C. Kazakoff-Eigen(*), Maria S. Greenberg
2: David Micley
3: Julia A. Malakie
4: Randall Steven Block
5: K. Garrett Miller, Julie T. Irish
6: Martha H. Bixby
7: R. Lisle Baker
8: Stephen Farrell



School Committee (1 per ward, elected city-wide)

1: Christie Lee Gibson(*), Arrianna Nicole Proia
2: Christine Fisher, Linda D. Swain
3: Jason Venkat Bhardwaj
4: Tamika Olszewski
5: Jenna Lauter Miara, Benjamin I. Schlesinger
6: Jonathan A. Greene, Mali Lipchik Brodt
7: Alicia Piedalue
8: Victor Lee, Jim Murphy

(*) Christie Lee Gibson announced on September 7 that she has withdrawn from the Ward 1 School Committee race. Jonathon C. Kazakoff-Eigen announced on September 15 that he has suspended his campaign for Ward 1 Councilor. Since these announcements were after the August 7 deadline for withdrawal, their names will remain on the ballot.

As a result of this election, starting in January, the City will have non-incumbents for:

  • Mayor
  • 6 or 7 of the 16 City Councilors-At-Large
  • 1 or 2 of the 8 Ward Councilors
  • 6 of the 8 School Committee members

With this array of candidates, a preliminary election in September is not required because there are not more candidates than twice the number of seats in any race.

Candidate Forums, Interviews, etc.

Fig City News interviews with Mayoral candidates: Albert Cecchinelli, Marc Laredo

Fig City News interviews with School Committee candidates: In August, after interviewing each of the 10 candidates running in contested elections, Fig City News has begun publishing edited transcripts. These have been completed:

Fig City News interviews with City Council candidates in contested elections:

Fig City News interviews with non-incumbent City Council candidates who are in uncontested elections:

Fig City News interview with non-incumbent School Committee candidate who is uncontested:

NewTV has posted video statements by 22 candidates. Each statement is under 3.5 minutes.

NewTV and League of Women Voters – Newton have collaborated on these nine Decision 2025 candidate forums:

Charles River Regional Chamber forums are focused primarily on economic development, housing, workforce, supporting our non-profits, and the environment. These have been completed:

See CRRC’s election landing page and its information and registration page for upcoming events:

League of Women Voters – Newton hosted Saturday Afternoon at the Races on October 4, 4PM-6:30PM at the Newton North High School Cafeteria.

Debates hosted by the Four Area Councils: In-person at Zervas Elementary School (30 Beethoven Avenue) and live-streamed, and recorded in the videos linked here.

Newton Conservators survey of candidate positions on open space and the environment

Protect Newton’s Trees asked the Mayoral and City Council candidates ten questions about tree preservation and the 2024 ordinance and has published the responses received.

Newton SEPAC (Newton Special Education Parent Advisory Council) will host webinar discudssions with School Committee candidates. Parents and guardians of Newton-resident children with special needs are encouraged to register for these two sessions

Ballot Question

There will be one Ballot Question this year, regarding the potential repeal of what is commonly known as the winter overnight parking ban. (Fig City News article: Hot issue on the ballot: Repeal the Winter Parking Ban?) Here is the text of the ballot question:

Shall the following measure which was proposed by an initiative petition addressed to the City Council take effect?

Repeal Section 19-174(b) of the Revised Ordinances of 2017, commonly known as the winter overnight parking ban, which states: “From December 1st through March 31st, it shall be unlawful for any vehicle, other than one acting in an emergency, to be parked on any street, way, highway, road parkway, or private way dedicated or open to the use of the public for a period of time longer than one hour between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.”

City of Newton’s official information about the ballot question, including statements For and Against.

Group supporting a YES vote: Repeal Parking Ban

Group supporting a NO vote: Keep Our Overnight Winter Parking Ban

Two Fig City News Op-Eds:

League of Women Voters / Newton topic meeting on October 7 at 7PM with a moderated panel with representatives of both sides.

Newtonville Area Council meeting on October 9 at 7PM will feature Q&A with representatives of both sides of the ballot question.

Area Council Elections

In this municipal election, voters living in the service areas of Newton’s four Area Councils — Newton Highlands, Newton Upper Falls, Newtonville, and Waban (see map) — may also vote for members of their Area Council. Area Council members serve for a two-year term. (Fig City News article:
Newton’s Neighborhood Area Councils: What’s new and what’s next?)

Nomination papers for Area Council candidates are available at the City Clerk’s office and must be returned with signatures by September 22. At least 25 certified signatures of voters in the candidate’s Area Council catchment area are required for a candidate to be on the ballot.

Voting Methods and Hours

Mail-in voting will start when ballots are mailed out in late September.

Early voting will take place at City Hall at these times (subject to amendment and approval by the City Council):

  • Saturday, October 25, 11AM-5PM
  • Sunday, October 26, 11AM-5PM
  • Monday, October 27, 8:30AM-8PM
  • Tuesday, October 28, 8:30AM-5PM
  • Wednesday, October 29, 8:30AM-5PM

Election Day will be Tuesday, November 4. Voting at polling locations will be 7AM-8PM.

See the City of Newton’s Elections page.

Guidelines for Letters to the Editor

We invite readers to submit letters to the editor endorsing candidates. Letters must follow our submission guidelines (including a maximum of 300 words) and should be sent to [email protected].

We do not have a set deadline for submitting letters. We recommend submitting them as soon as possible, since voting by mail will soon be underway. We will do our best to publish letters as they come in, but we cannot make guarantees. It all depends on volume. If we need to restrict publication due to volume, we will aim to publish letters representing a variety of views.

Our final Wednesday Fig City News newsletter before the November 4 municipal election will be sent on October 29. We may publish letters after that, but letters that are included in that newsletter will have more visibility.

Ed. Note: We have been updating this post often to include links to candidate interviews, the listing of candidates’ names in the order they will appear on the ballot, and information about the ballot question, Area Council elections, an dvoting methods and hours.

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