NORTHAMPTON — A third candidate entered the race to become the city’s next mayor when business leader Jillian Duclos announced her bid late Monday night.

Duclos, the former executive director of the Downtown Northampton Association, officially filed her nomination papers to run for the position with the City Clerk’s Office on Tuesday. She said that her campaign will aim to shift the energy in the city — energy which she said “there is not a lot of” at present.

“I really want to drive a process that is grassroots,” she said, as she sets out to run against current Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra and former Northampton police officer David Dombrowski.

Sciarra announced her intention to seek a second term in March, while Dombrowski filed an election campaign with the state in January.

In preparation for her announcement, Duclos said she’s been on something of a listening tour, and going forward, listening sessions will be a key part of her outreach.

While her team is still building a plan for these publicity opportunities, she will be seated on the bench across from Union Station from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday to listen to residents and their concerns, regardless of the weather.

Speaking to residents thus far, she has realized that, “Some folks are feeling like they have really good ideas, and they want to share that,” she said, adding that, “right now it’s about driving democracy — you know, driving choice.”

With the slew of confusion caused at both the state and national levels, she said, “Folks just want to pause, take time, and evaluate both what the city wants to achieve and let go of. … People can come as who they are and share their hopes and vision for today and the future. I want to dream a little bit. I want to help people imagine the possibilities.”

And with the confusion on the local level, she said that collaboration is key particularly when it comes to issues that are controversial in the city — such as Picture Main Street or whether to allocate more money to education.

“There are so many details that tie each large project together, and that is where folks find ways to give feedback and help make projects stronger … It’s not necessarily that we do or do not want something to happen — we just want to do it in collaborative ways that bring people into the conversation and value their expertise and opinions,” she said.

At 36, she is the youngest candidate to come forward, and said that her age is not a key selling point of her candidacy. However, she said that, “I come from a different generation that may have a different perspective on communication and connection.”

Duclos, a divorced single mom of a 4-year-old who was raised in Holyoke, began the Northampton chapter of her life at the age of 19, most recently serving as executive director of the DNA from December 2023 to early in 2025.

“The DNA became its own 501c3, drove a strategic planning process, and my most notable accomplishment was the monthly Downtown Business Owner Forums, which were for business owners to connect and share what was working, what was not working, and how the DNA could help,” Duclos said. “It was magic because it was a space where leadership showed up and listened.”

Her resume and education also include political experience.

Duclos studied at Holyoke Community College before going to Mount Holyoke College where she earned a degree in politics with a minor in education policy. She expressed her gratitude for receiving a full scholarship to Mount Holyoke, an education which she would not have been able to afford without the financial assistance.

She was a campaign manager for a candidate running for an at large position on the Holyoke City Council, then in 2010 became former mayor Alex Morse’s communications director for a year.

For a six-year period, from 2011 to 2017, Duclos was vice chair of Holyoke’s Democratic Committee, as well as a regional volunteer coordinator for Aaron Vega during his successful 2012 run for state representative.

Her experience in politics would later take her to Washington, D.C., where she was an intern for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren from 2013-2014, and then again in 2015.

From the experience of being in D.C. she learned that, “change doesn’t really happen on the Hill. It happens in our communities.”

While she worked these other positions, she maintained a job at both Sylvester’s and Roberto’s Restaurant, formerly in downtown Northampton, and worked her way up to vice president of operations for the restaurants. She maintained the job up until her appointment as executive director of the DNA, outside of a three-year stint from 2016-2018 when she worked as the community outreach coordinator for the New Jersey Reentry Corporation and as a public affairs and political intern with media company SKDKnickerbocker. 

Looking forward, she said the future looks paved with fun as she tries to build a coalition in the city.

“For me, this is going to be fun. This process is going to be something to engage in, and people will see we have a lot of power to work together,” she said.

With three candidates in the race for mayor, a primary election will be triggered and ta ke  place in September to narrow the field to two candidates for the November election.

Samuel Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com.