Montclair 2026 Election: Town Council and School Board Races to Watch

Montclair voters will fill one at-large council vacancy and three Board of Education seats in the November 3, 2026 general election, with a voter registration deadline of October 13. The council race is a short, focused contest for the seat left open when Carmel Loughman resigned, and the school board race is unusually crowded, with seven candidates and no eligible incumbents running. After a year dominated by the district's budget crisis, the winners will help decide how Montclair handles taxes, development, and school finances. Here is who is on the ballot and why it matters if you live in or are looking at Montclair.

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What is on the ballot

Two municipal offices are on the November ballot: one Councilor-At-Large seat and three seats on the Board of Education, each with three-year terms. Federal, state, and county offices are also on the ballot, which typically brings out more voters than a local-only election.

The council seat opened when Carmel Loughman resigned, and the council temporarily appointed Bill Harrison to fill it. Harrison did not run again, so the seat is wide open. Three candidates filed petitions by the August 20 deadline:

• Mariana Horta is running for the at-large council seat.
• Kyle Porro is running for the at-large council seat.
• Antoinette "Toni" Martin is running for the at-large council seat.

The winner serves out the remainder of the term, through July 1, 2028.

The school board race: seven candidates, no incumbents

Seven candidates filed by the July 27 deadline for the three open school board seats: Brandie Bookhart, Andrew W. Gideon, Ayelet Haran, David Moon, Corey Pierson, Richard Reynics, and George Simpson. The three eligible incumbents, Melanie Deysher, Phaedra Dunn, and Allison Silverstein, did not file to run. That level of turnover is worth paying attention to in a district that spent the last year defending an $18 million budget gap that drove staffing cuts and higher school taxes.

One change since this guide published: candidate Brandie Bookhart withdrew from the race on September 30, per Patch, but because the withdrawal came after the ballot was set, her name will still appear on the printed ballot. That means six actively campaigning candidates are competing for the three seats, and any votes for Bookhart simply will not count toward a winner. It is a small but real reason to check the candidates' current campaign activity and not assume every name on the ballot is in the race.

Check the certified ballot before voting, since candidate lists can shift between filing and the final printed ballot.

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Why this election matters to homeowners

The school board race is the one with the most direct impact on property values. School quality is the first thing many Essex County buyers research, and Montclair's board will spend the next three years rebuilding the district's finances, managing the cell phone and busing changes that just took effect, and deciding how to communicate with a community still stinging from last year's deficit. The average home has already seen school taxes rise by close to $2,000 once the one-time referendum amount is included, so the board's budget choices land on every household's tax bill.

The council seat matters for the town's direction on development and municipal finances. The same council is weighing the municipal complex redevelopment at 205 Claremont Avenue, follow-through on the Church Street project's tax-break transfer, and the pedestrian plaza and shuttle experiments that shape how downtown feels. One seat is only one vote, but in a town where major decisions have come down 4-3 and 5-1, every vote counts.

What to watch before November 3

Mark October 13 as the registration deadline if you are not already registered to vote in Montclair. Then watch the candidate forums and local coverage between now and Election Day, and ask candidates two practical questions: how they would handle the next school budget without another tax spike, and how they would balance new development and housing supply with neighborhood concerns.

The bottom line

Montclair's 2026 election is small on paper but outsized in consequence: one council seat and three board seats that will shape school finances, taxes, and development for the next few years. For anyone weighing a move to Montclair, the campaign itself is a useful window into how the town debates its biggest issues. If you want to talk through what the race and the town's direction could mean for buying or selling here, I am happy to walk through it with you.