Alex Dellas, a member of the family that owns Boutwell’s Bowling Center who had previously announced a run for mayor, filed instead to run for City Council in Ward 5, challenging two-term incumbent Stacey Brown.
It makes the Ward 5 race among the few contested seats in Concord, with little time remaining for candidates to put their names on the ballot. The filing period closes Monday.
Between 16 races for the city council, school board and mayor, just half had more than one candidate signed up as of Friday afternoon.
They include the mayor’s race, the two at-large city council seats, two candidates each running in Wards 4, 5 and 9, and two people running for the school board seat currently held by Cara Meeker.
In every other seat, only one candidate has filed. Meeker is the only incumbent on the school board who has so-far filed for another term. On the City Council, by contrast, nearly every uncontested race includes the incumbent.
Dellas first announced he’d run for mayor in April, with a GoFundMe that has since been taken down.
In a Facebook post Friday, he explained that he’d pivoted to running in Ward 5 because of “the lack of a clear path to victory.”
He continued: “I would rather support my community and constituents from a different position.”
Dellas could not be reached for comment Friday.
Online, Dellas describes himself as a “strong conservative” and follower of President Donald Trump. City elections are non-partisan.
In a post in his page announcing his mayoral run in April, he pledged to end the city’s pay-as-you-throw purple trash bag program and lower property taxes. He also expressed opposition to “proposed” spending on a new Penacook Community Center, which was approved by the city council years ago and opened to the public in 2024.
Brown is a vocal critic of taxpayer spending on the city-owned golf course who often spars with her peers and with members of city hall staff on that issue and others. She also has been a vocal supporter of the Concord Concerned Citizens group that successfully pushed for the middle school to remain in the South End.
Two years ago, Brown’s race was by far the most contentious in the city. Her opponent in that race filed on the last day of the filing window.
Here’s who else has filed:
City Council:
- Brent Todd, Ward 1
- Michele Horne, Ward 2
- Jennifer Kretovic, Ward 3
- Jeffery Tynes, Ward 4
- Elijah Wilson, Ward 4
- Stacey Brown, Ward 5
- Alex Dellas, Ward 5
- Aislinn Kalob, Ward 6
- Brenna Kehew Sculley, Ward 6
- Jim Schlosser, Ward 7
- Ali Sekou, Ward 8
- Kris Schultz, Ward 9
- Andrew Georgevits, Ward 9
- Jeff Foote, Ward 10
- Amanda Grady Sexton, At-large
- Fred Keach, At-large
- Fisto Ndayishimiye, At-large
- Byron Champlin, Mayor
- Kate West, Mayor
School Board
- Madeleine Mineau, Zone A (Wards, 1-4)
- Cara Meeker, Zone B (Wards 5-7)
- Jeff Wells, Zone B (Wards 5-7)
- Alexander Dubois, Zone C (Wards 8-10)