Shake up at the Amherst Town Council

Unofficial Results for the 2025 Biennial Election

There will be four new Town Councilors come January 2026: Jill Brevik (District 1), Amber Cano Martin (District 2), Sam MacLeod (District 5), and Andy Churchill (at-large). Although a number of incumbents held their seats, most of them garnered far fewer votes than in the last town election: Mandi Jo Hanneke (at-large) dropped by 169, Cathy Schoen (District 1) dropped by 104, Lynn Griesemer (District 2) dropped by 63, George Ryan (District 3) dropped by 61, Hala Lord (District 3) dropped by 76, and Ana Devlin Gauthier (District 5) dropped by 200. The exceptions to that decline were Jennifer Taub and Pam Rooney, (both District 4), who received very similar vote counts in 2023 and Ellisha Walker (at-large) who increased her vote count by over 300. Three councilors did not run for re-election: Pat DeAngelis (District 2), Bob Hegner (District 5), and Andy Steinberg (at-large). Freke Ette (District 1) was the only incumbent councilor to be unseated.

Cano-Martin had a strong showing in District 2, besting Griesemer’s total votes 536 to 532. Brevik took District 1 easily, outpacing Schoen 392 to 300. District 5, the most populous district, was once again uncontested. Walker posted a resounding win at-large with 2,509 votes – over 300 more than Churchill and over 400 more than Hanneke, winning all but 2 of the 10 precincts.

The pattern of decreasing overall voter turnout continued, falling from 4,962 voters in 2021 to 4,480 in 2023, and 3,852 in 2025 (now representing 28% of registered voters).

Town Council-elect names and unofficial vote counts.
For a listing of complete unofficial election results for all town offices and for a breakdown of vote tallies for all candidates by precinct look HERE. The Indy will post a link to official tallies as they become available. The Amherst voting district and precinct map can be found here.

At-Large
Ellisha Walker 2,509
Andy Churchill 2,201
Mandi Jo Hanneke 2,092

District 1
Jill Brevik 392
Cathy Schoen 300

District 2
Amber Cano Martin 536
Lynn Griesemer 532

District 3
George Ryan 469
Hala Lord 436

District 4
Jennifer Taub 369
Pam Rooney 363

District 5
Ana Devlin Gauthier 743
Sam MacLeod 629

School Committee
Two newcomers will join three incumbents on the school committee. Andrew Hart and Laura Jane Hunter will join incumbents Bridget Hynes, Sarah Marshall, and Deb Leonard. Hynes was the top vote getter with 2596, more votes than any candidate for any office. Incumbents Irv Rhodes and Jennifer Shiao did not seek re-election. Unofficial vote tallies follow.

Bridget Hynes 2596
Sarah Marshall 2309
Deb Leonard. 2078
Andrew Hart. 2031
Laura Jane Hunter 2027
Esther Azar. 1771