One Election Down, Contentious Local Election Next

By Larry Overlan

A majority of Canton Republicans voted for former President Trump (57 percent) over Nikki Haley (39 percent) in the March 5 presidential primary, mirroring the statewide average. The “old guard” Republican towns of Dover, Newton, Andover, and Sharon, among others, voted in favor of Haley. Back when Massachusetts was a Republican state — basically up to the arrival of the Kennedys and Tip O’Neil in the 1950s — those towns were the vanguard of the Republican Party. The embers still burn.

The other candidates on the Canton ballot produced no surprises. The Republican and Democratic town committee members were elected as were their state committee men and women. In the Democratic primary, President Biden received 82 percent of the vote while 8 percent chose “no preference” and 5 percent preferred Minnesota Congressman Dean Philips. I wonder how RFK Jr. would have done if he had stayed in the Democratic Party. Kennedy could still have a significant effect in November since he will be on the ballot in many key states.

Now, onto Canton’s own non-partisan election, where many of the town positions are being hotly contested, as evidenced by the many sign holders on street corners around town. There are even a few announced write-in candidates for positions that were unopposed. Robert E. Maffie Jr. is running for the two-year vacancy on the Planning Board and Nicholas J. Corkery is running for Housing Authority against former Select Board member Lisa Lopez. If you choose to write in a candidate for any position, make sure you get the correct spelling and make it legible. Many candidates have lost over the years due to people rushing when they write a name in and getting the details wrong. These can be challenged and ultimately disqualified.

I expect there will be a large voter turnout as there appears to be an old guard vs. change agents scenario in these contests. Those who are convinced that Canton is a fine town as is and who voted against the Special Town Meeting (STM) article to investigate the Canton Police are pitted against those who suspect corruption at all levels of town government. It was a close vote at the STM and in all likelihood it will be close on April 2.

These two factions will battle it out again at the Annual Town Meeting on Monday, May 13. This time the major issue will be the state-mandated zoning overlay district, which has prompted several complicated articles for voters to consider. The full list of warrant articles is posted on the town website. I highly recommend that everyone looks at them before the meeting and discuss them with Select Board, Planning Board and ZBA members/candidates. This is a very important issue not only for Canton but for 177 cities and towns in Massachusetts who either have a rail line or are adjacent to a town that does.

Former Republican Governor Charlie Baker signed this unfunded mandate before he left office. The overwhelmingly Democratic state Senate and House sent it to Baker’s office for signature — a good example of how bipartisanship doesn’t necessarily result in good legislation. Far from it.

Milton voted in opposition to the plan and many other towns are waking up to how much this mandate could threaten the historic right of cities and towns to set their own zoning preferences. The state now plans to withhold hundreds of thousands of dollars from Milton, and Attorney General Andrea Campbell plans to sue the town of Milton for non-compliance.

This underscores my recommendation for everyone to look closely at this issue. Baker has left town, but it wouldn’t hurt for concerned Canton citizens to call the offices of state Rep. Bill Galvin and state Senator Paul Feeney, both of whom have been very quiet on this issue. Look for a possible statewide referendum on this issue in 2026 to restore local control over the state’s outrageous overreach, favored by both political parties.

I will discuss more on the zoning issue in my next column before the May 13 Annual Town Meeting.

Larry Overlan is an adjunct professor of economics and government at several Boston area colleges, a longtime resident of Canton, and the current president of the Canton Republican Town Committee. The views expressed in his column are solely his own.

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