MANCHESTER, NH – While he fell short last fall for a chance at being a state representative, Brandon Lemay hopes that experience will help prepare him this fall in his quest for a seat as Ward 8 Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
This time around, Lemay will take on incumbent Ed Sapienza, who joined the board in a 2020 Special Election to replace Michael Porter, winning re-election in 2021 against Planning Board Vice Chair Sean Sargent.
Lemay said he decided to run both due to a lack of competition for Sapienza and his interest in local issues that some may consider trivial.
“Sometimes you need to be the leadership that you wish to see, so I decided to step up and run for office, which I think is one of the most important things you can do for your community,” he said. “I have a love for municipal issues, whether it’s things like drainage or truckers driving through neighborhoods in the early parts of the morning.”
Like most candidates running for office this fall, he believes homelessness and housing affordability is one of the key issues the city must face, sharing that he has personally known people who have struggled to find shelter in Manchester. He also hopes to help push the Manchester Housing Commission to do more to help find housing for individuals making under the amounts required for federal definitions of workforce housing.
“I want to make sure Manchester’s a place where me and my friends can continue to live,” he said. “It’s getting expensive. I want to be able to afford a house here one day.”
While the Board of Mayor and Aldermen do not have a direct role on the Manchester School District beyond approval of its budget, he said he hopes to play an indirect role by helping to prevent barriers to education that students may face at home.
In the end, he believes that this election is ultimately about determining what type of place Manchester wants to be.
“I think we’re an up-and-coming city and we just have to decide who we are. We have to decide if we’re a sprawling suburb, or are we going to be a city that is going to be developed and have a plan?” he said. “Poverty is also a huge challenge for us, it’s hard for us to compare Manchester to the rest of the state due to our unique challenges, but I feel we are on a good track here.”
As there are only two candidates for the position, there will be no primary in September, with both Lemay and Sapienza advancing to the November General Election ballot.