City justice of peace write-ins fail
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Darlene Gregory (right), voting at the Godnick Center in Rutland on Tuesday, talks with the city's Republican Party chairman Michael Coppinger about passing out stickers to place Republican candidates’ names as ballot “write-ins” for justice of the peace. Vyto Starinskas / Rutland Herald |
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By Brent Curtis Herald Staff - Published: November 9, 2006
More than 4,800 votes for Republican justice of the peace candidates were written in on the Rutland ballot Tuesday.
But in the end, the Democratic candidates won by landslide margins.
Republican candidates for the 15 justice of peace positions in the city were left off the ballot because of an oversight in September when the party's leadership failed to hold a caucus to choose candidates. About half of the candidates were incumbents.
After apologizing, the city's Republican Party Chairman, Michael Coppinger, dipped into his own pocket to pay more than $200 for 4,000 sheets of stickers with the names of write-in candidates. Those sheets were handed out near polling places Tuesday; voters were encouraged to affix them to ballots in the spot reserved for write-ins.
And many voters used them.
The seven Republican JOP candidates received a total of 4,845 votes. The most successful Republican candidate, Chris Bove, garnered 932 votes — more than several House candidates received in the city's four wards.
But the number of votes paled in comparison to the 2,130 votes that Democrat Collin Fingon received. Fingon finished in 16th place among all JOP candidates, missing one of the positions by 47 votes.
Democrat George Hooker earned the most votes for JOP, receiving 3,446.
"I knew from the beginning that this would be an uphill battle," said Coppinger, who received one write-in vote for JOP himself. "Whenever you do something contrary to the norm, it's difficult."
Coppinger said compounding the challenge was that more than 1,000 voters cast absentee ballots, meaning many voted before the sheets of stickers with GOP names became available.
The Republican candidates who participated in the write-in campaign included current JOPs Bove; Robert Beauchamp, who received 796 votes; Paul Clifford, who garnered 833 votes; William Gillam Sr., whose name got 641 times; and John J. Welch, who received 610 votes. The two other Republican write-in candidates were Shelagh McCormack, who received 448 votes and Charles Wilton, for whom 585 votes were cast.
For Clifford, the top vote-getter among all JOP candidates for the last four years, the results were a disappointment. Still, Clifford said he was impressed so many supporters took the time to scribble his name or paste stickers onto their ballots.
"It makes me feel good that people took the time and effort to peel the stickers," he said. "I think you will see me on the ballot next time."
The Democrats who won election as JOPs on Tuesday were Joseph Barbagallo, Katherine Barrett, Hurley Cavacas Jr., Michael Clifford, Peter Cooper, Jessica Falker, Ellen Garneau, Hooker, Carl Mazzariello, Mary Mazzariello, James Mee, Mary Mellow, Jerry Ragosta, Joanne Slattery and Frederick Terenzini.
Contact Brent Curtis at brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com.
Ed. note, November 10, 2006: In a Herald story appearing Thursday about the justice of the peace elections in Rutland, the party affiliation of candidate Ellen Garneau and her placement in the results was incorrect. Garneau ran as an independent and finished out of the mix for one of the 15 JOP positions. Candidate Collin Fingon, who was incorrectly named as the last-place finisher in the race, actually earned one of the JOP spots.
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