Politics Sizzles

Above -- image reposted from Facebook of Roy-endorsed Town Council candidates.

A lot of non-recyclable plastic is lining the town’s roadways in the form of candidate signs, all in preparation for the town’s Nov.2 municipal election. And Thursday evening, there will be an ample crowd of those candidates packing the Town Council Chambers, put through their paces by former Police Chief Lawrence Benedetto, who is serving as moderator.

But much of the action has been happening “off-stage” with anonymously circulated voter “cue cards” popping up last week, and this week an unusually comprehensive slate of endorsements from State Rep. Jeff Roy as well as the emergence of a local political action committee, Franklin United, all seemingly promoting the same set of candidates.

Roy’s specific endorsement of Town Council candidates, posted on his Facebook page, extols the virtues of all the current incumbents, with the exception of rival, Town Councilor Andrew Bissanti, who opposed him in the 2019 election. Council hopefuls, Ted Cormier-Leger and Patrick Sheridan, also got the Roy endorsement.

According to Roy’s posting, the timing of his endorsement, made even before the Thursday candidate event (a second event is coming on Oct. 21), aligns with his hope that his voters will make a beeline for early voting this coming weekend, and then support his candidates through traditional election day on Nov. 2. [Franklin Observer emailed Roy for comment late on Wednesday evening and will update this story when we hear...]

For its part, the Franklin United website states that the organization “is a registered municipal political action committee devoted to a vision of a stronger, more united Franklin,” and list Scott Faught as the Chair and Jack Manns, as Treasurer.

In one more departure from the traditional “non-partisan” orientation of town elections, according to her web site, Planning Board Candidate Jennifer Williams is relying on Act Blue, the national Democratic fundraising system, to gather funds for her candidacy.

For those interested in seeing candidates “in the flesh” Thursday evening, the show starts at 7 pm at the Municipal Building and will also be available through Franklin TV – Channel 29 (Verizon) Channel 11 (Comcast).