Rep. Ray Church wins Burrillville, loses election to Newberry in District 48 By JOSEPH FITZGERALDBURRILLVILLE – Democratic incumbents Nancy F. Binns and Margaret "Peggy" Dudley were re-elected to another four years on the Burrillville Town Council and Democratic candidate Kevin D. Heitke won his first council seat in the general election Tuesday.
The Democratic trio outpolled four independent candidates who were running for three four-year seats on the council, one of three local races on the ballot.Voters Tuesday also decided a race for School Committee, as well as a contest for the District 23 Senate seat between Democratic incumbent Sen. Paul W. Fogarty and Republican Scott P. Rabideau, and a three-way race for the District 48 House seat between incumbent Rep. Raymond Church, Republican Brian Newberry and Independent candidate Gary Ezovski.In that House race – in the district shared with North Smithfield – Church, the Democratic incumbent, was unseated by Newberry, with Newberry taking 39 percent (2,667 votes) to 36 percent (2,451 votes) for Church. Independent Gary S. Ezovski garnered 25 percent of the vote – 1,687 votes. Church, However, won the majority of Burrillville voters with a total vote of 516 votes to Newberry’s 489 votes, and Ezovski, who tallied 198 votes. However, Newberry, A Republican, apparently won the election when vote tallies were counted in the rest of the district in North Smithfield.Mirroring the large voter turnouts reported in many other towns, roughly 60 percent of Burrillville's 10,000 registered voters went to the polls where election workers reported a busy morning followed by a steady stream of voters throughout the day, according to Deputy Town Clerk Cynthia Ketcham.In the Town Council race, Binns was the high vote getter with 2,610 votes, followed by Heitke with 2,536 votes. Coming in third was Dudley with 2,251 votes. The Independent candidates for Town Council were Robert Bishop, who garnered 1,652 votes; Robert J. Marshall, 1,553 votes; Newton B. Stevens, 1,521 votes; and Michelle D. Bouchard, 1,472 votes."I'm delighted and thrilled that the voters of Burrillville believe in both Peggy and myself and the work we've done these past four years," said Binns. "I think this was a message that we have been doing a good job on the council. I'm also delighted to have Kevin Heitke on board. He will be a great asset to the council."Heitke said he, Dudley and Binns ran as a team and believes their decision to run a clean campaign resonated with voters. "We kept it positive," he said."I'm grateful to the people who voted for me. It is a validation of my first four years of work on the council," Dudley said. "I'm lookig forward to working with Kevin. He's extremely bright and articulate and will bring a lot to the council."
There were eight candidates battling it out for three four-year seats on the non-partisan School Committee. Incumbents Dorothy Cardon and Joan M. Cote won re-election, earning 1,793 and 1,652 votes, respectively. Debra L. Stockwell, a former member of the school board, won the third seat with 1,586 votes. The trio outpolled five other candidates, including incumbent Peter F. Lambert, who garnered 1,543 votes; Aaron J. Coutu, 1,401votes; Thomas P. Tatro, 1,567 votes; David C. Ketcham, 1,466 votes; and Christine Fasano, 1,329 votes.Burrillville voters re-elected Fogarty to the District 23 Senate seat. Fogarty received 2,746 votes, and Rabideau, a former state representative, earned 2,358 votes. Glocester
In neighboring Glocester, voters decided races for Town Council, School Committee, town moderator and human resource director. Voters also cast ballots for the District 23 Senate race between Fogarty and Rabideau.Roughly 68 percent of the town's registered voters went to the polls, according to Town Clerk Jean Fecteau.There were 10 candidates – five Democrats and five Republicans – running for five two-year seats on the Town Council. Re-elected was Democratic incumbent Patrick J. Carroll; Republican incumbent Kevin P. Walsh; and Republican candidates Edward C. Burlingame, Walter M.O. Steere III and George O. Steere Jr.The highest vote getter was Walter Steere, who garnered 2,437 votes, followed by George Steere who received 2,395 votes. Coming in third was Walsh, who received 2,361 votes. Burlingame recieved 2,352 votes, and Carroll tallied 2,300 votes. They outpolled Democratic incumbent William E. Reichert, who earned 2,180 votes, and Democratic candidates Steven F. Winsor, 2,154 votes; Michael C. Joyce, 2,263 votes; and Vincent N. Iannuzzi Jr. 1,837 votes. Republican candidate John Patrick Devine picked up 1,768 votes.There were nine candidates running for three four-year seats on the non-partisan Glocester School Committee. Elected to the committee last night were Steven A. Sette, 2,340 votes; Anne E. Ejnes, 2,073 votes; and Mary E. Keeling, 1,709 votes.The other candidates were Ronald J. Bachman 1,206; Russell K. Gross, 1,203; Michael L. DeGrange, 862; Mark A. Baker, 830; Kimberly J. Michalik, 828; and Vincent W. Giek, 386.Democratic incumbent Raymond Fogarty defeated Republican Henry P. Haczynski for the one-year position of town moderator by a vote of 3,176 to 1,601. Democratic incumbent Virginia M. Peters defeated Republican Judith A. Branch for the one-year position of human resource director with a vote of 2,499 to 2,128.In the District 23 Senate race, Glocester voters re-elected Fogarty, who defeated Rabideau by a vote of 3,111 to 1,745. |
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