Norwood votes!

The results are in and 2,481 voters out of 23,703 registered made their voices heard in Norwood.

For the Board of Selectmen, incumbent Michael Saad took the lead with 1,633 votes, but not far behind was Cheryl Doyle, with 1,607 votes to take the second open seat. Challenger David Bliss came in with 539 votes.

Saad said his turnout was almost exactly the same as in 2023, as he had 1,677 then.

“Same vote-get, it was almost the same as last time,” he said. “It’s great, I love Norwood and I hope people gave me their vote of confidence, and the next three years are going to be exciting. We’re going to roll our sleeves up and make things happen.”

Saad said he was particularly focused on one big issue in the Town.

“The Norwood Hospital has been the biggest thing on the ticket for the last 120 years, so we got to get this thing open,” he said.

Newly-minted Doyle has run for the Board before, as well as other offices, and she said this win was because she had got heavily involved with the Town.

“This one was a lot different than last year. I was more nervous then, but I had such a great team this year backing me up and a lot of residents were contacting me in Town, even up to the last minute to get lawn signs or hold signs outside, everything,” she said. “I am on cloud nine, and it just goes to show that if you volunteer in this Town and put the time and effort in, you will get support from the Townspeople.”

Bliss said he was thankful for the experience and those who came out for him.

“There was a lot to learn, a lot involved,” he said. “But it was a fair and clean race, and I think we did well.”

Matthew Lane ran unopposed for a one-year term to fill outgoing Selectman Bill Plasko’s seat with 1,819 votes.

For the School Committee, Michael Sangalang topped the votes with 1,294, and coming in second for the second available seat on the Committee was Ben Moser with 1,277. Nicholas Pallang was not far behind with 1,001 votes.

Moser said this was the second time running for School Committee, but the first time winning.

“I ran five years ago, and I’m mostly just excited to get to work,” he said. “Well, excited might be the wrong word, but I’m ready to stop campaigning and start diving in. I know that there is a lot to do, and I know it’s not going to be the most comfortable work to do over the next three years, but I am excited to get to it.”

Moser added that he knows it’s going to be a lot of work to get up to speed.

“That’s why I took tomorrow off,” he said.

Sangalang said this was his first run and that he also is looking forward to getting in the weeds.

“It was exciting, and really great to be able to hear from so many people and get to know so many people in the Town,” he said. “There is a lot going on in this Town and so many people have so many different opinions, and just to hear so much of that was an education in how the Town works and what people care about.”

The Finance Commission race was close, but returning member Kellie Noumi topped out at 1,142 against Ed Lynch with 1,090.

Noumi has had a seat on the commission before, but this election was different.

“FinCom hasn’t had a contested race in like, 30 years,” she said. “This was the first time it was contested for a long time, which is great. You get more people out there throwing their name out trying to do good things for the Town. But I was a bit nervous. I’m glad it turned out the way it did, and I’m really thankful for everyone who came out and voted. I hope one of the things we can do moving forward is increase voter turnout so people can get their voices heard.”

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Lynch said he’s been a Town Meeting member for 12 years, but this was his first run for a larger office.

“There was a bit more communication with people, and it was a lot more exciting,” he said. “We lost a close race. If you supported me in any capacity, I thank you kindly, and do appreciate your help. It means something, and I learned a lot. The voters spoke. Thank you!”

For the Board of Health, incumbent Joan Jacobs kept her seat on the Board with 1,205 votes to Kathryn Kinzer Ahnger-Pier’s 1,082 votes.

Ahnger-Pier said she was disappointed to lose again this year, but there is always next year.

“It was so close this year!” she said. “I’m disappointed, but I did better in my campaign and I did much better than last time, and I’m going to run again next year. So it was good!”

It should be noted that the number of blanks cast in each contested election – 1,162 for the Board of Selectmen, 1,375 for the School Committee, 246 for the Finance Commission and 191 for the Board of Health – could have swung the vote against the winners of each election.

For the uncontested races, Jennifer Mancuso and Christina Stetson took 1,566 and 1,420 votes, respectively. For the Planning Board, Debbie Holmwood took in 1,650 votes, for the Norwood Housing Authority Michael Fitzgibbon garnered 1,611 votes, and Robert Disario – the publisher of the online publication Inside Norwood – took 1,582 votes for Constable.

The average voter turnout for the Town Meeting districts hovered around 9-10 percent, save for Districts 5 and 6, which had 6.35 percent and 6.81 percent, respectively. However, District 4 had a turnout percentage of 17.8 percent (473 votes out of 2,657).

To see the Record’s live coverage of the election on Monday, go to https://www.norwoodrecord.com/election-live