2026 Town Election Preview

There are nine elections on Tuesday’s ballot, including six contested races. Learn more about each race and the candidates running below.

Select Board

This year’s Select Board race has been one of the most fluid campaigns in Nantucket’s history. Of the five candidates who initially pulled papers to run for Select Board, only two—Finance Committee chair Jill Vieth and 16-time candidate Clifford Williams—remain in the race. Charter boat captain and former Select Board member Bob DeCosta then entered late as a write-in candidate. Regardless of who wins, the Select Board will have two new members, as both incumbents - Tom Dixon and Malcolm MacNab - are not running for reelection.

Vieth first ran for Select Board in 2019. She pulled papers again last year, but ultimately dropped out and did not run for office. This year, she has run on a platform that counsels fiscal caution, emphasizing her experience on the Finance Committee and Capital Program Committee. Vieth, who voted against recommending a new Our Island Home skilled nursing facility but supported public school athletic facilities improvements in her role as Finance Committee chair, has recommended a disciplined approach to prioritizing spending as the town considers around $1 billion in capital projects over the next 10 years.

Williams, a former Finance Committee member who has run for Select Board repeatedly but has never won, has called for the town to focus on basic services and back away from larger projects. Williams wants to significantly reform operations at the Nantucket landfill and has been a prominent critic of how the town has handled the investigation into the African Meeting House hate crime of 2018.

DeCosta, who launched a write-in campaign after former candidate Amy Eldridge withdrew from the race, has served two previous terms on the Select Board. Like the other candidates, DeCosta has said he aims to keep spending in check. He has also focused on the town’s coastal resiliency plan and his own experience as a commercial fisherman.

Read the candidates’ platforms in their own words here, and see their answers to critical questions here.

Planning Board

The Planning Board race offers voters a choice between two candidates: incumbent Hillary Hedges Rayport and charter boat captain Brian Borgeson. Rayport, long a vocal critic of Nantucket’s planning regime, won a seat on the Board last year for a shortened term. She has used her position on the Board and the Nantucket Planning and Economic Development Commission (NP&EDC), which she was appointed to by virtue of her election, to advocate for long-range planning and structural reform. After years of debate, Rayport reached an agreement with the majority of the NP&EDC on a home rule petition seeking to overhaul the Commission, which was backed by Town Meeting but still needs the support of the state to go into effect.

Borgeson first entered Nantucket’s political scene last fall when he submitted a petition calling a Special Town Meeting devoted to short-term rentals. Borgeson then sponsored an effort to secure the full legalization of short-term rentals island-wide, which became Article 1 on the Special Town Meeting ballot last November. That article passed 1045 - 421, ending a divisive stalemate on the issue that had gripped the island for years. Borgeson has focused his campaign on his long Nantucket residency and has called for greater efficiency and responsiveness from local government.

Read the candidates’ platforms in their own words here, and read their comments from the Civic League’s Meet the Candidates forum here.

School Committee

Four candidates are vying for two spots on the School Committee this year. Incumbent Tim Lepore, a local doctor and tick expert, hopes to defend his seat after casting the only School Committee vote against the inclusion of an artificial turf playing field in an athletic complex renovation plan later endorsed by Town Meeting. Lepore, who has served on the School Committee for over 35 years, has raised concerns about flagging enrollment in the island’s public schools and the deteriorating condition of the elementary school.

Shantaw Bloise-Murphy, the School Committee’s current vice chair and the town’s director of culture and tourism, is also seeking re-election. Bloise-Murphy voted in favor of the turf field and has stressed the importance of student mental health, vocational education, and the housing crisis that has made it difficult to hire and retain teachers in recent years.

After first entering local politics as a vocal supporter of the artificial turf field, Nantucket Stage Company clerk Jennie Cook launched her campaign for School Committee in February. Cook has called for improvements to the elementary and middle schools and emphasized long-term planning and community engagement. She has a child enrolled in every public school on the island.

The final candidate is Heidi Fee, the executive director of Small Friends, a local pre-school and early education center. Fee has centered the importance of employee housing to aid in retaining teachers and other staff, particularly specialists who work with differently abled students. She has said her first priority is student achievement, and has suggested reducing class sizes and increasing scrutiny on the school budget and campus master plan.

Read the candidates’ platforms in their own words here, and read their comments from the Civic League’s Meet the Candidates forum here.

Land Bank

In a Land Bank race characterized by debate over how extensively the organization should expand its focus in the community, particularly whether it should develop indoor recreational facilities, incumbent Neil Paterson is facing off against challenger Graham Veysey. Paterson, an established long-time incumbent, has stressed his track record, experience, and willingness to listen to alternative perspectives. He has expressed strong skepticism of the idea of indoor recreation, citing its potential high cost, but has said he would be willing to consider a partnership to create a facility if there was strong interest.

Veysey, who has also emerged as a prominent voice in favor of the Nantucket Public Schools’ plan to install an artificial turf field at Vito Capizzo Stadium, is an interior designer and political newcomer. She is a staunch supporter of exploring indoor recreation and has pushed the Land Bank to revisit an internal policy from 2023 preventing the development of indoor recreational facilities.

Read the candidates’ platforms in their own words here, read their comments from the Civic League’s Meet the Candidates forum here, and read previous coverage of the race from the Current here.

Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board

There are three candidates running for two spots on the Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board: incumbent secretary Peter Brace, former Nantucket Shellfish Association executive director Kevin Korn, and Matt Peel, who is likely best known on-island for his advocacy in favor of tightening restrictions on short-term rentals with the advocacy group Nantucket Neighborhoods First. With former Harbormaster Dave Fronzuto bowing out of the race, there is guaranteed to be at least one new face on the Board. The Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board usually remains relatively low-profile, but it has drawn some attention in recent months for its feud with the Great Harbor Yacht Club, which the Board alleges is out of compliance with a state permit that allows it to develop and use the waterfront near its property.

Nantucket Board of Water Commissioners

This year features a rare contested election for the Nantucket Water Commission, with three candidates vying for two seats. The contestants are incumbent commissioners Curtis Barnes and Nelson “Snooky” Eldridge, and challenger Michael Egan.

Historic District Commission

Incumbents Val Oliver and Ray Pohl are running unopposed for reelection to the Historic District Commission. It is the highest-profile board with an uncontested election this year. Oliver is a designer and anti-offshore wind activist. Pohl is an architect and the current vice chair of the Commission.

Nantucket Housing Authority

Incumbent Beth Ann Meehan is the only candidate for Housing Authority. Meehan won the Howard Dickler citizen award for housing advocacy last year. Read more about Meehan here.

Moderator

Sarah Alger is the only candidate for Town Meeting moderator, running for her 30th consecutive term. Read more about Alger here, and watch her viral moment from this year’s Town Meeting here.