MANSFIELD — Stephanie Zader plans to hit the ground walking in her campaign for Mansfield City Council.
The 32-year-old Republican will now walk and knock on doors seeking to retain an at-large seat after she was unanimously elected Thursday evening by the party’s Mansfield Central Committee.
She will complete the unexpired term of new City Council President David Falquette, appointed last week to complete the term of Cliff Mears, selected earlier this month to replace former county Commissioner Marilyn John.
“No one will outwork me,” Zader said before the 12-0 vote, besting oral surgeon Dr. Christopher Beale and local attorney Jodie Dees. “We knocked on 4,000 doors when I ran for council before and that was in a ward that had 6,000 doors.”
Zader, a local Realtor and entrepreneur who lives on Greenlee Road, ran in the 6th Ward in 2019, losing to Democrat Jean Taddie. It was her first attempt at elected office.
Zader said she has two fundraisers already in the works and has assembled a team to help with her campaign, which begins with the May primary. The filing deadline for the primary is Wednesday and it’s not known if Zader will have competition.
“I have reached out to a couple of local businesses to help with the fundraisers and I am really excited about that,” she said after the Zoom meeting. “I want to bring fun to fundraising. We have all been cooped up (due to COVID-19). I just want to help people get out of the house.”
Zader, who has lived in Mansfield since 2010, said she has no preconceived agenda when she begins her term on City Council on Tuesday.
“I want to spend time understanding what people need,” she said, “by talking to the people I will be serving. I want to talk to neighborhood watch leaders, department heads in the city and local organizations. I want to understand where the pain points are and what we can do about it.
“I care about my city. I would like to see good things happen. If you want to see good things happen, you need to help make them happen,” said Zader, active in local Republican Party efforts for the last four years.
She and husband, Gabe, purchased an office building at 120 Sturges Ave. in 2020 and have worked to renovate it into a co-working space.
The vote came after Zader and Beale both had three minutes to speak, followed by a Q&A session. Dees didn’t attend the online meeting.
Beale, a 10-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, said he moved to Mansfield four years ago after acquiring a local oral surgeon’s practice. He described himself as a fiscal and social conservative who is interested in bringing well-paying jobs to Mansfield.
