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In Bristol County’s most obscure race, Register of Probate Tom Hoye has beaten challenger Melanie Patenaude Layden to win reelection, according to unofficial vote totals.
Hoye said he was excited to have the opportunity to continue to serve the citizens of Bristol County in the role.
“I’ve learned in this business, you can’t take anything for granted,” he said, taking a moment to thank his family and the volunteers who supported him during his campaign. “I was all in.”
He said his biggest goal as he continues his position is to keep improving the customer service at the office, specifically by expanding the virtual registry to make it “even more accessible” to constituents.
Hoye won about 65% of the vote to Layden’s 35%, according to results Wednesday morning from 17 of the county’s 20 cities and towns.
The register of probate handles the department that keeps records for Probate and Family Courts, and is in charge of scheduling court hearings in those areas.
Two other positions were up for election Tuesday. County Treasurer Christopher Saunders and County Commissioner John T. Saunders (a pair of cousins) ran unopposed and won their races.
Christopher Saunders has held his position since he ran in 2012 in another unchallenged race. John T. Saunders, a former New Bedford city councilor, ran for reelection for a third four-year term since his initial, also uncontested, race for commissioner in 2014.
Hoye, a Democrat, has held the register of probate position for seven years. His opponent, Layden, a family and probate attorney, first ran against him for the position in 2020.
Layden, who ran as an independent, declined early this week to give further comment after the election night results, citing her preference to wait until the election had been legally certified due to an increased concern about voter fraud and voter manipulation.
She said she has “run [her] own race” in this election, and didn’t factor in her opponent in her campaigning strategies. Layden also cited her 30-plus years of experience as a lawyer as one of her reasons for going by the “legal technicalities” of certification rather than election night vote counts.
That certification is expected to come later this month, unless it is further delayed for any reason.
In previous coverage of this race by The Light, Hoye said he’s focused on the customer service aspect of the job, and making sure things are easier for people to access.
Layden echoed this goal in her aim to update infrastructure in the Register of Probate offices in New Bedford, Taunton and Fall River, as well as wanting to make sure paperwork is reviewed promptly.
The register of probate serves a six-year term with an annual salary of $174,000, according to payroll data from 2025.
Bristol is one of the six remaining counties in Massachusetts after eight were abolished by state legislation between 1997 and 2000. One of these remaining counties, Norfolk, held a nonbinding vote on a ballot question asking if state representatives should support legislation abolishing that area’s county government.
