Paul Buckley Enters Seekonk Selectmen Race

A little less than four months after he was narrowly defeated in an election for a Board of Selectmen seat, Seekonk native Paul Buckley announced Wednesday that he will try again. Buckley became the fourth person to pull papers for the April election.

Buckley, who sits on the town's board of assessors, ran against Nelson Almeida in a special election in the fall for the seat vacated by Bill Rice. Almeida won by 32 votes.

"This is a different race," Buckley said. "I think there's some momentum for me and I want to continue with it. I want to see if I can win in a different type of atmosphere."

Board Chair Francis Cavaco's seat is the only one being contested in this election. He is officially in the race after having pulled papers and returned them to Town Hall with at least 50 valid signatures from residents.

In addition to Buckley, those who have pulled papers and not returned them are former Selectman Michael Brady and Michael DelRosso, grandson of former Selectman Robert DelRosso. They have until next month to return them.

Also on Wednesday, former Selectman Bob Richardson pulled papers for the school committee race for two seats. Richardson ran for school committee in 2011, but was defeated by John Bilodeau in a contest for one seat.

Former Selectman Don Kinniburgh is a confirmed candidate for the school committee race, as is political newcomer Bill Woods. TV talk show host Jeffrey Starr Mararian pulled papers, but has not returned them. He said he plans to do so.

There are not expected to be any incumbents in the school committee race. The seats up for grabs are occupied by David Mullen and David Abbott, who were appointed last month to fill the seats made vacant by the resignations of Fran Creamer and David Quinn. Both men said during the appointment hearing that they would not run in the election.