Lamoille County Election Day Snapshot
by Staff
With an almost a two to one margin, Lamoille County chose Democrat John
Kerry for president; and equally comfortably elected Republican Governor
Douglas. Apparently party lines didn't mean much here. In the contests
for other federal offices, the incumbents were handily returned to
Washington, both Democrat and Independent. Closer to home, State Senator
Susan Bartlett also opened up her own two to one lead over challenger
Craig Bensen. She actually won the Stowe vote for the first time since
Act 60 came on the scene. It seems Act 68 made swimming in the infamous
former "shark pool" safer! One of Act 68's chief architects, Rep.
Richard Marron, was also re-seated.
In the Cambridge/Waterville/Belvidere race, likely candidate for Speaker
of the House Rich Westman won re-election with 1,497 votes over
Christine Melicharek. There were two races that were widely considered
too close to call in pre-election days, that in Wolcott/Hyde Park and
the Johnson/Eden race. In the latter, incumbent Nease upset the
challenging bid of Johnson Selectboard Chair Eric Osgood - once again
with slightly over a two to once margin that included a great showing in
Eden, once considered a Republican stronghold.
We caught up with Floyd Nease, armed with a steno pad and a Bic pen,
standing in the driving rain on Route 15 outside the polling station at
the Municipal Building in Johnson. It was 1:30 p.m. on Election Day.
According to an informal tally he was performing in real time via
scratched groups of four marks connected by a horizontal line to make
five, Nease estimated that he was already up by 100 votes over his
challenger Eric Osgood.
"I've got a van shuttling people back and forth from the college. The
turnout has been incredible." Cars came and went, wipers slapping time,
as Nease waved and horns honked. "My opponent has not made a case for
why I ought to be fired, so I am hopeful that I will be returned to
office." He was.
Thirty yards away, flanked by two supporters holding umbrellas, Eric
Osgood bravely weathered the raw November rain. He said he planned to be
there till the polls closed and then would return home to await the
results with friends and family.
Inside the Municipal Building, there was a steady, but very friendly,
trickle of voters, occasionally bunching up to where one might have to
wait a minute or two before actually getting to vote. One of the clerks
said she had noticed by the voters' visible body language while in the
booths, i.e. their feet, that they seemed very determined this year.
"They just walk in, pull the curtain, plant their feet and vote. In
previous years, they used to pace back and forth, lean on one foot, hem
and haw. Not this year!"
When votes were counted, the closest race in Lamoille County was the
contest between appointed incumbent Representative Harold Bailey and
Wolcott Town Clerk Linda Martin. Martin prevailed by 200 votes. This was
still a much greater margin than the last winner of the seat, the late
Stephanie Bourdeau, had enjoyed. Martin can also honestly claim the only
ouster of an incumbent from the county.
"I'm very proud to be elected as the Hyde Park and Wolcott
Representative," Martin told the News & Citizen. She said the campaign
afforded her the opportunity to meet a lot of new "really nice people."
She complemented Bailey on running a "good, clean race." She credited
her win to her supporters turning out to the polls this year.
Of course, all the day's news can not be summarized without noting the
great turnout of slightly over 70% of registered voters. Actually the
voter turnout average would have been quite a bit larger, except its
some kind of unexplainable fact that despite hard campaigns in a hotly
contested race between Nease and Osgood, voter turnout in Eden and
Johnson was lowest in the county!
Sixty-two percent of Johnson's voters cast ballots in Tuesday's
election. Eden's turnout was a fraction more than 60%. Elsewhere in the
county, turnout was upwards of 70%. Despite a lack of contested house
races, Elmore and Morristown tied for the county's highest voter turnout
with 76%.
Also to be mentioned is the evidently wise decision of Cambridge voters
to renovate and improve their elementary school. Seventy-three percent
of Cambridge voters cast ballots on Tuesday. And that's the way it went
around Lamoille County.