To witness Democracy in action, Damian and Jennifer Kennedy brought their extended family visiting from Australia to the polls on Tuesday. 

For the Kennedys, who have lived in Concord for nine years, voting in local elections is tradition. Especially for Damian, who became a U.S. citizen five years ago. And with it, the polls at the Christa McAuliffe School show the sense of community their family has found in Concord. 

“It’s fun to come in,” said Jennifer Kennedy. “It’s just an excellent place to come and we have our family with us seeing our democratic process in action.” 

Tradition is also what brought Ray MacWhinnie to the polls. He moved to Concord 18 years ago to the day. And now, he’ll see new city leadership in mayor-elect Byron Champlin. 

“The fact that we have no incumbents running for mayor, I think that’s what makes it exciting,” he said after voting in Ward 5. “It’s a cleaner slate. It’s wide open and that’s the best.”

Voters elected a new mayor, two new school board members and six new city councilors on Tuesday.

After 16 years at the helm, Mayor Jim Bouley announced in June that he would step down from city leadership. Champlin, who has served on City Council for the last decade, pledged to continue the city’s progress on key issues like coordinating a response to homelessness and diversifying government employees.

“Every election cycle has a new set of eyes, a new set of thoughts that the city councilors bring to the city,” he said during his campaign. “I have my own aspirations. I think that Concord should be a cultural capital. I think that Concord should be a destination city. I think that Concord should be a place where young families want to come and put down their roots and create opportunity.”

But most importantly, he promised to listen to voters’ concerns, he said.

“I canvassed door to door. I spent a lot of time talking to people. What I heard universally was that people respected that I listen, that I will always lend an ear to the concerns of our citizens and I will continue to do that as the next mayor,” he said Tuesday shortly after he was declared the winner.

Champlin will be one familiar face in the City Council chambers, but up and down the ballot on Tuesday, voters turned out for a new direction in Concord.

In Ward 7, 18-year incumbent Keith Nyhan was defeated by Jim Schlosser in Ward 7. Homelessness divided South End residents after encampments populated the neighborhood earlier this fall. While Nyhan promised concerned residents that he would ensure these tents were removed, Schlosser, a physician who serves on the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness board, said there could be a more permanent solution for the city – reaching a functional zero for homelessness.

“People are seeing it’s time for change,” said Eric Feldbaun, a Ward 7 resident who has lived in Concord for 12 years. “New blood, new vision. Demographics are becoming younger. We need to focus on that population.”

In Ward 10, incumbent Zandra Rice Hawkins lost her seat to fourth-generation Concord resident Jeff Foote, who is the director of public works in Bedford.

With eight of 10 ward races contested on the City Council and two at-large seats up for re-election, nearly twice as many voters went to the polls that two years ago with 6,720 votes cast. In 2021, when only two ward races were contested and Bouley was on the ballot for the eighth time, 3,680 voters participated, which is about 14 percent of registered voters.

Record turnout in the local election also led to historic results. For the first time, a New American was elected to serve on City Council as Ali Sekou won in Ward 8.

Sekou immigrated to the United States from Niger in 2012. For him, his election embodies what it means to live the American dream, he said.

“America is a land of opportunity as they say. Only in the United States can you be a foreign-born and be who you want to be,” he said. “Coming to the City Council is just taking my service to the next level.”

It’s also the first overt display of city diversity in an elected position, which many residents said they desired. Stacey Brown, who was narrowly re-elected to represent Ward 5, has repeatedly called for increased representation among city boards and committees over the last year.

Brown, alongside Rice Hawkins, created a binder of vacant board positions this year to reach more volunteers at community events. Now, Brown will serve with Sekou, who has been a longstanding volunteer in Concord, serving on the city’s public library foundation and board of trustees, as well as serving as the president of the Islamic Society of Greater Concord.

Equity and inclusion were themes among candidates across the city. Mayoral candidate Kate West, who previously lost her school board seat when she was evicted from her home, ran a campaign centered around accessibility. For many residents who don’t have access to transportation, like herself, the council chambers on Green Street are inaccessible by bus, she said.

Despite her unsuccessful bid for mayor, Nathan Fennessy, who was re-elected to his at-large seat, said he would push the council to host their monthly meetings at various locations across the city to better reach residents.

Judith Kurtz, one of four new candidates who ran for at-large, was also elected to serve alongside Fennessy. She has served as the vice president of the Concord Greenspace Coalition, since moving to Concord in 2019 with her husband and two children.

After Erle Pierce and Candance Bouchard announced that they would not seek reelection in Wards 2 and 9, respectively, voters elected Michele Horne and Kris Schultz.

When her eldest daughter left Concord for a job out west, Horne was inspired to run for office, she said. On the council she will be a voice for the working class, she said.

Schultz currently represents Ward 9 in the State House, as a state representative.

Incumbents Brent Todd and Jennifer Kretovic ran uncontested in Wards 1 and 3. In Wards 4 and 6, voters chose incumbents Karen McNamara and Paula McLaughlin.

With Champlin earning nearly 75 percent of the vote, the turnout in his support was a clear vote of confidence from residents, he said.

“I’m honored,” he said. “I’m just honored.”