WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Shana Dixon said Tuesday night that she had a sense during the day that the Select Board election was going her way.

 

Not because of what people said to her, but because of what they did.

 

"You know what people [going into the polling place] did?" Dixon said after winning a 497-377 vote against incumbent Jane Patton. "A lot of people gave silent head shakes. A lot of people were very quiet about it. A lot of people were not trying to show any emotion or eye contact. But what they would do is they'd walk by and give a little [thumbs up] … so people couldn't see them acknowledging me.

 

"People are scared to really speak their minds. … I think people have been bullied in this community, whether it's seen or unseen, and I think they feel comfortable with me. They feel they can trust me. I'm a very approachable person, so that helps a lot of people just show their love.

 

"So I appreciate that."

 

Unofficially, 874 votes were cast, with 10 blank votes, from among the town's 4,677 registered voters, a 19 percent turnout.

 

That is up from 438 votes in 2024, when there were no contested races on the ballot.

 

On Tuesday, there were two contested races.

 

Patton, a 12-year incumbent on the Select Board, was running not for re-election to her own seat but to fill out the remaining year left on the three-year term of Andrew Hogeland, who moved from town in the winter.

 

Dixon instead won that seat and will have a chance to run as an incumbent for a full three-year term in May 2026.

 

Two other Select Board seats were on the ballot. Matthew Neely, who was appointed to fill a few months of Hogeland's term, and Peter Beck ran unopposed for three-year terms on the five-person body.

 

The other contested race was for four-year seats on the Milne Library Board of Trustees.

 

Five candidates were running for four seats on the library board.

 

Robin Lenz (594), Micah Manary (577), Katherine Myers (544) and Benjamin Lee-Cohen (486) were the top four vote-getters in the five-person race. Adriana Brown finished just out of the money with 427 votes.

 

All other positions on the ballot were uncontested.

 

Dixon, currently the chair of the town's Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Equity Committee, was making her run at elected office in town.

 

"It feels amazing," she said of the win. "I'll make my kids [19 and 11] proud."

 

When asked why she ran in the first place, Dixon was clear.

 

"To make more of an impact for marginalized communities," she said.

 

And when she did have a chance to chat with those voters heading into Williamstown Elementary School on Tuesday?

 

"I got really good feedback," Dixon said. "They were just so proud to get another perspective, somebody that would advocate for what's right and somebody that would just show up for them."