HAMPTON — Voters will choose between two experienced candidates for the next town clerk, following the resignation of the previous clerk last year due to election law violations.
Candidates Beth Frongillo and Cheryl Hildreth both bring years of experience working in Hampton’s town clerk’s office, managing election issues, voter and vehicle registrations, and other vital records maintenance. Both are vying for the position of town clerk in the upcoming March 11 election.
Beth Frongillo and Cheryl Hildreth are running to become the next town clerk of Hampton.
The office is still recovering after the New Hampshire attorney general called for Shirley Doheny’s resignation as Hampton’s town clerk last August. The letter ordering the resignation came after the AG investigated complaints about Doheny’s handling of ballots and other concerns related to the March 12, 2024, town election, finding election law infractions, carelessness and disorganization.
Previous story: AG demands Hampton town clerk resign over election law violations
Here’s a look at each of the 2025 candidates:
Beth Frongillo
Frongillo, who was the deputy town clerk at the time, resigned from her position a couple of months after the March 12 election. Although she doesn’t place blame on anyone, Frongillo said she did so because she felt it was the right thing to do at the time.
Frongillo said she resigned after Doheny ordered her and another clerk to retroactively sign an activity log for ballot counting devices that were not signed as required. In her resignation letter, she “reported numerous concerns” regarding Doheny’s handling of the Jan. 23 presidential primary election, the town election, and the Right-to-Know request filed by former Hampton selectwoman Regina Barnes submitted to Doheny’s office.
Beth Frongillo
“I’m not here to tear anybody down,” Frongillo said. “I resigned because I took my oath (of office) seriously. My oath was my priority.”
At 54, Frongillo said she is running because she really enjoys working in municipal government assisting people. She spent much of her career in the field, starting with her first job as a 911 operator in Everett, Massachusetts, after graduating from Revere High School. She also worked as a payroll administrator in the Everett Public Works Department.
For years, Frongillo said she has volunteered with Portal of Hope, an organization that assists victims of domestic violence.
Frongillo’s experience working in Hampton’s town clerk’s office began in late 2019 as a bookkeeper and assistant clerk. She transferred for a while to work in the town assessor’s office before moving back and becoming deputy town clerk in 2023.
During her years with the office, Frongillo said she learned the legal requirements of the position, from election and voter laws to procedures required by the Bureau of Vital Statistics and Motor Vehicle Division.
“My combined experience in what goes on in the clerk’s office is what makes me the best candidate,” Frongillo said. “Also, in my tenure in (Hampton) Town Hall, I was elected president of the union.”
Frongillo put together a new residents’ brochure explaining state and town requirements and clerk’s procedures for those moving into town and state. She also has initiatives she would like to work with the Select Board and DPW to establish veterans’ only parking spaces in the Town Hall parking lot, and perhaps at the polls.
She would also like to set aside two Town Hall parking spaces to be designated for “curb-side service,” allowing office workers to bring documents out to residents. These would be for residents with mobility issues who struggle to get into Town Hall to conduct business with the clerk’s office, she said.
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Cheryl Hildreth
Hildreth, 56, has and currently does work in Hampton’s town clerk’s office. She has an associate’s degree in accounting from Newbury College in Boston and began her tenure in the Hampton clerk’s office in 2018, with a stint in the assessor’s office as well. She transferred back to the clerk’s office, but left in 2021, taking a job as assistant town clerk in Durham.
Cheryl Hildreth
When difficulties arose in Hampton last summer, Hildreth said she was invited back to be Hampton’s deputy town clerk last July. Since then, Hildreth said she has worked hard at training office staff and organized and streamlined the office’s many systems to be more efficient.
One thing Hildreth said she’s worked on for residents is reducing the wait time and lines at the service windows at the clerk’s office in Town Hall. In the past, she said there were only two windows open, but that has changed.
“We have three (service) windows open all the time,” Hildreth said. “Since then, there’s hardly even been waiting lines.”
If elected Town Clerk, Hildreth would open a fourth window, which she would service whenever things get busy.
During her career in town clerk positions, Hildreth said she has helped organize and run 20 local/state/presidential elections. She believes her experience can facilitate the voter registration, voting, and election process to run more smoothly and efficiently, all in accordance with state and federal laws.
Letters: Hampton area sounds off on town and school ballots ahead of March 11 election
Voters to decide at the March 11 town election
Both candidates have received endorsements.
Former town clerk Jane Cypher Garcia recently came forward to endorse Hildreth. Garcia served as town clerk from 2007 to 2018 and worked with Hildreth during that time.
“The job of town clerk is an important one…one that requires a level head and an ability to create and manage a positive, hardworking, cohesive team. No one knows better than I that Cheryl is the candidate that has what it takes and more to move the Hampton town clerk’s office back in that positive direction.”
Ed Tinker, who has served as the town assessor for 16 years, with the last six as a contract assessor, has endorsed Frongillo.
“Beth worked alongside me for several years in the assessing department and helped transform office procedures and the department’s record-keeping, she worked alongside elderly exemption and veteran credit applicants to ensure they received a smooth and understanding application process while there,” said Tinker. “Beth would bring this same work ethic and level of detail to the position of Hampton town clerk.”
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton town clerk election 2025: Frongillo vs. Hildreth
