GOP challenger disputing results in Norfolk supervisor race
JOHNSON NEWSPAPERS
The Republican challenger in the race for Norfolk town supervisor vowed he'll dispute Tuesday's unofficial election results that show him losing to his Democratic opponent by 71 votes.
Unofficial results from the county's Board of Elections showed Democrat Charles A. Pernice with 529 votes and Republican Bernard H. Lanning with 458 votes.
"You're talking to the new supervisor," Mr. Pernice said Tuesday night after the polls had closed.
Mr. Lanning begged to differ.
"Right now I say it's up in the air. I'm not giving up the ship. If he beats me out, there are a lot of absentee ballots that can change it," he said.
The Board of Elections said earlier this week there were 30 absentee ballots out in the town of Norfolk. The municipality has 2,755 registered voters.
Mr. Lanning said at one point he was up by 144 votes, then up by 3 votes and then down by 44 votes.
"We don't understand what's going on yet. It's been really screwy," he said. "We've got a real problem over here. I haven't thrown the towel in yet."
Mr. Lanning suggested that some of the machines may not have been shut down properly, leading to problems with the results.
"They didn't lock them up correctly. We're waiting to see if we can get some accurate numbers," he said, noting he planned to protest the results if they stayed in Mr. Pernice's favor.
Due to delays and problems with some voting machines, the results of several election races in St. Lawrence County were unavailable at presstime. Here is a roundup of local races' results.
■ Town of Clare: unavailable.
■ Town of Colton: unavailable
■ Town of DeKalb: Connor J. Burt defeated Allan L. Garrand for highway superintendent. The vote was 334-256.
Voters chose Mike Livingston and Jody C. Hamilton for the town council. They received 347 and 321 votes, respectively. Norris L. Davis received 268 votes and Arnold A. Graham tallied 60 votes.
■ In DePeyster: Michelle M. Sheppard took the town clerk's seat over Sue Matheson. The vote was 97-80.
Richard A. Pray and Thomas M. MacKay Jr. were the winners of two council seats, receiving 142 and 96 votes, respectively. Candidate Robert Murdock received 82 votes, and Roland Newcombe brought up the rear with 37 votes.
In the race for an unexpired term on the board, Leslie G. Hargarve defeated Andy Fenton. The vote was 95-82.
■ Town of Edwards: unavailable.
■ Town of Fine: unavailable.
■ Town of Fowler: unavailable.
■ Town of Gouverneur: unavailable
■ Town of Hammond: Ron Bertram defeated Janie G. Hollister for supervisor. The vote was 307-251. Darlene V. Amyot defeated Rose Whittier-Brown for town clerk. The vote was 309-235. Donald Green was the winner over Edgar J. Amyot for highway superintendent. The vote was 301-249.
The judge's seat was won by Lisa Proven, who received 418 votes. William J. Sheridan received 387 votes, and Sonja J. Kocan received 159 votes.
In the four-way council race, the winners were Douglas E. Delosh and James R. Tague. They received 359 and 320 votes, respectively. Ron Tully received 227 votes. Pieter Visscher received 182 votes.
■ Town of Massena: Town Supervisor W. Gary Edwards was defeated by Republican Joseph D. Gray, 1,152-759 votes, with 11 of 14 districts reporting.
Democratic Town councilmen Charles A. Raiti and Albert N. Nicola over independent challenger Donald J. Lucas. Shortly before midnight, the Board of Elections Web site showed Mr. Raiti with 1,373 votes, Mr. Nicola with 1,304 and Mr. Lucas with 566, with 11 of 14 precincts reporting.
■ Hermon: Rose Warren defeated Sheri J. Cardinell Smith for supervisor. The vote was 171-34.
William A. Dibble and David A. Doiron won seats on the town board. They received 147 and 123 votes, respectively. Frank Aldous received 108 votes. Holly G. Lehigh also earned the right to complete an unexpired term, earning 136 votes.
■ Lawrence: unavailable.
■ Louisville: Democrats Patrick D. Carroll and Daniel O'Keefe Jr., earned seats on the Town Council, defeating Republican Gail Schneider. Mr. Carroll, the incumbent earned 428 votes, while O'Keefe earned 435 votes. Mrs. Schneider earned 360 votes.
■ Macomb: Democrat Ryan P. Schermerhorn was the top vote-getter for a seat on the council, with 159 votes. A second seat on the board went to Independent Wayne Clifton Gates, who received 128 votes. Democrat Laureen O'Toole and Republican Phyllis L. turner received 60 and 69 votes, respectively.
■ Madrid: Democrat Joseph Finnegan defeated Republican incumbent William B. Carkner for supervisor. The vote was 255-224.
Democrat William R. Barkley won as highway superintendent, with 236 votes. Republican Robert O'Neil received 180 votes; Kevin Finnegan received 71 votes, and Chet Tyndall received 16 votes.
■ Norfolk: Charles Pernice defeated Bernard H. Lanning Jr. for supervisor. The vote was 529-458.
The two council seats were won by Robert Harvey and Jean M. Gang, who received 740 and 587 votes, respectively. George J. Molnar received 340 votes.
■ Pierrepont: unavailable.
■ Pitcairn: Donald Mallette won the highway superintendent's position over George Morris Hart. The vote was 150-72.
■ Potsdam: unavailable.
■ Russell: Democrat Robert Best defeated Edward Dave Whiteford for supervisor. The vote was 328-109.
The two council seats went to Democrat Sandra J. Burnham and Republican Incumbent Carol Coller, who received 356 and 251 votes, respectively. Christopher Kelly, an independent candidate received 136 votes.
■ Stockholm: unavailable.
■ Waddington: With one of two precincts reporting, Republican Mark Scott holds a lead over Democratic incumbent William R. Dalton in the race for town supervisor. As of Tuesday night Mr. Scott had earned 212 votes, while Mr. Dalton earned 151 votes.
■ City of Ogdensburg: City council positions went to Democrats Daniel E. Skamperle, 1,590 votes, and Michael D. Morley, 1,117 votes, as well as Republican Robert Storm Cilley, 1,372 votes. Republican Robert G. Flavin finished with 1,077 votes.
■ Village of Canton: unavailable.
■ Village of Gouverneur: unavailable.
