Here's who's running for Brockton mayor, city council and school board

By Susannah Sudborough
Staff Writer
Published by The Enterprise

BROCKTON — Sullivan is a Brockton High School graduate, and served as a councilor-at-large on Brockton City Council since 2006. In that role, he was elected by his colleagues to serve as the city council president five times.

Another well-known candidate for mayor is Brockton City Councilor-at-large Tina Cardoso, who was elected in 2019 to the Council.

A Cape Verdean woman, Cardoso is a nurse and executive director of a domestic violence prevention group called Cape Verdean Women United.

The third candidate for mayor is Eugenie Kavanagh, the founder and CEO of Mother’s Pride LLC, an organization supporting parents and caregivers of LGBTQ+ children. 

Kavanagh is a veteran with a bachelor's degree in social work from Bridgewater State University who has been active in the Brockton Interfaith Community.

There are also many candidates for the four councilor-at-large seats. Incumbent councilors-at-large Rita Mendes, Moises Rodrigues and Council President Winthrop Farwell Jr. are all running again. 

Mendes is a Brazilian-American lawyer and realtor. Rodrigues is a Cape Verdean Navy veteran who served as mayor of Brockton for half a year in 2019 after former Mayor Bill Carpenter died in office. Farwell is a former police sergeant, mayor and school committee member. 

The other candidates for the councilor-at-large seats are Michael John Fernandes Nunes, Julio Pomar, Jamal Brathwaite, David Teixeira, Widmayer Ambroise, Gary Keith Jr. and Jean Bradley Derenoncourt. 

Derenoncourt was elected a councilor-at-large in 2017 and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2019. Keith ran for councilor-at-large in 2019 but lost. 

The Ward 1 councilor seat, which has been vacant since April when long-time Councilor Timothy Cruise resigned to take up the position as assistant city clerk, has two candidates — current school committee member Thomas Minichiello Jr. and Marlon Green.

A Jamaican immigrant, Green was a victim of a hate crime late last month where jugs of urine with political and racist messages were poured on his driveway. 

The candidates for Ward 2 councilor are newcomers Jamie Hodges, Rigoberto Quinones and Maria Tavares. Incumbent Thomas Monahan is not running for reelection. 

The candidates for Ward 3 councilor are school committee member Mark D'Agostino and newcomers Gerson Monteiro and George Brickhouse Jr. Incumbent Dennis Eaniri is not running for re-election. 

The candidates for Ward 4 councilor are incumbent Susan Nicastro and challenger Michael Smith. 

Incumbent Jeffrey Thompson is running unopposed for Ward 5 councilor. 

Incumbent John Lally is running against challengers John Troxo and Elizabeth Ann Laso for Ward 6 Councilor.

Incumbent Shirley Asack is running against challenger Bri Nichols for Ward 7 councilor. 

Most school committee members are running unopposed for their seats, including Tony Rodrigues from Ward 4, Judy Sullivan from Ward 5, Joyce Asack from Ward 6 and Tim Sullivan from Ward 7.

Kathleen Ehlers is running unopposed for the Ward 1 seat because Minichiello is running for city council. 

In Ward 2, incumbent school committee member Cynthia Rivas Mendes faces a challenge from Grisel Oneida Quinones. And four newcomers are vying for the open Ward 3 school board seat being vacated by D'Agostino: Alan David Green, Jared Homer, Ana Oliver and Matthew Stanton