Brad Markey Wins School Committee Seat After Convention Deadlock Broken

Select Board · Meeting of January 21, 2026

NEW BEDFORD — Brad Markey was appointed to the New Bedford School Committee by a 9-to-8 vote at a joint convention Wednesday, ending a vacancy created by the death of member Bruce Oliveira. Mayor Jonathan Mitchell chaired the convention, which had first met October 7 and deadlocked before being recessed to January 21 by Council President Ryan Pereira. Candidate Henry Bousquet, a Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical educator, withdrew before balloting and read into the record a letter criticizing the process as having descended into political defamation rather than focusing on what is "best for the school department." Markey was sworn in on the spot after defeating Marcus Coward.

Councilor Gomes closed the session with an unusually pointed rebuke of the proceedings, saying, "We have a divided community right now, because of this," and stating he had never seen a joint convention handled this way in his prior experience.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of January 21, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.