WILMINGTON — Wilmington Town Supervisor Favor Smith announced at Monday’s Essex County Board of Supervisors meeting that he plans to step down from his role despite the fact that his name will still be on the ballot in November. He cited recent deaths in the family and life circumstances as the reason for stepping down.

“The things that the town really needs (is someone) hard-working, committed and able to focus on what’s going on in the town — it’s becoming more of a challenge,” he said.

It is now too late for Smith to be removed from the ballot and from the Republican party line, so his name will remain on the ballot in November. Any additional candidates wanting to enter the race will have to launch a write-in campaign. Wayne Taylor, acting chair of the Essex County Republican Committee, said the search is underway for a new candidate.

“We’re sad because Favor’s done a great job and was pretty well-respected in the county,” he said. “We’re going to do our best for the people of the county.”

Essex County Republican Commissioner Roy Holzer said any new candidate would have a lot of work ahead of them, but said it would be good for the party and the community to find one. It remains to be seen what the exact procedure would be for endorsing a new candidate, Holzer added, and this will be something for the GOP committee to work out.

“It’s good for democracy when we have choices on the local level, state and federal,” he said. “We would certainly welcome more candidates, the more the merrier.”

Tim Follos, a current town council member whose term is ending this year, is running for supervisor as an independent candidate. Follos previously ran for supervisor in 2023 against Smith. This change alters Follos’ campaign plans, since he expects that someone else will likely step into Smith’s place.

“It’s probably easier to run against someone with a track record than to run against a blank slate,” Follos said. “I suspect I’ll be running against a blank slate.”

Follos is running on a platform with a stance on three key issues: protecting against deforestation and clear-cutting, limiting increases in property taxes and bringing back the youth summer program.

Smith did not respond to a request for additional comments. During Wednesday’s meeting, Smith also took time to commend the rest of the town supervisors in the room.

“I’m always amazed that this board is able to focus on what the people of Essex County need,” he said.