The primary election for East Marlborough’s Board of Supervisors will be one by the numbers:

20 – The third Tuesday in May on which the primary will be held.

6 – The number of years in a supervisor’s term.

5 – The number of supervisors on the board.

4 – The number of seats that have changed hands within the last year.

3 – The number of seats up for election in the May 20 primary in East Marlborough. Also the number of precincts in the township (West, South, and East).

2 – Sitting supervisors who are running (James Chance and Steven Peuquet). Also the years left on the unexpired supervisors’ seat, for which Chance and former Supervisor Robert B. McKinstry Jr. are running.

1 – The only resident who hasn’t served on the board, Chris Manning, is running against McKinstry, the former supervisor and previous board chairman.

0 – The number of Republican candidates on the ballot. Chance, Peuquet, Manning, and McKinstry are all running on the Democratic ticket.

McKinstry, an environmental lawyer, joined the board of supervisors in 2018 and served a six-year term. In 2020 he was elected chairman and served in that capacity through 2023. Chance, an IT consultant, was appointed a supervisor at the Nov. 4, 2024 meeting to replace the seat held by former Chairwoman Kathryn Monahan. Pequet, a city planner, was appointed to the board at the May 9 meeting to fill the vacancy left by Jake Auger, who resigned March 12, 2025. Manning, while the only candidate who has not served as a supervisor, is no stranger to East Marlborough, as he is on the township Board of Auditors.