NORWICH – Though still unofficial, the biggest upset in Tuesday’s general election was in the City of Norwich’s Wards 4, 5 and 6 as Alderman Robert M. Jeffrey unseated nine-term Supervisor Linda E. Natoli, by a vote of 198 to 136.
Jeffrey, who has served on the Common Council for six years, did not run in the Republican Party primary, and thus took the independent platform of “Time for A Change.” But both candidates are members of the GOP.
Jeffrey thanked his constituents for supporting him and said he looked forward to working with Mayor Joseph P. Maiurano to represent the concerns of his fellow aldermen as a member of the Chenango County Board of Supervisors.
“I hope I can live up to the expectations of voters and look forward to representing the city at the county level. Linda has done a good job of representing the city for 18 years – she needs to be thanked for that,” he said.
The city’s charter mandates that Jeffrey will be replaced as alderman by appointment. The council anticipates appointing a candidate for the sixth ward this month.
When reached for comment on her defeat, Natoli said she was disappointed.
“I think there’s a lot of factors of why I was defeated. I know that it wasn’t because I was doing a bad job. People are just fed up with politics, and I was the only place in the city that someone could have a choice,” she said.
The second most surprising upset in Chenango County politics occurred in the Town of Otselic, where the eight-year incumbent and the political party he represented lost. Political newcomer Evan T. Williams, a Republican, unseated Democratic Supervisor David J. Messineo, 161 to 125.
“I’ve got a lot of anxious apprehension, but it’s good,” said Williams. “It’s going to be a lot of work, navigating county and local government. I have no plans at this point, got to start crawling before I walk.”
Jeffrey and Williams join five additional newcomers who will sit around the Chenango County Board of Supervisors table in January.
In Afton, Councilman John N. Lawrence took the helm from retiring longtime supervisor Robert B. Briggs, with 392 votes to his challenger April M. Leggett’s 187. Briggs was first elected supervisor back in 1988.
In thanking voters, Lawrence said the turnout showed “a great presence” in the Afton. “I think now we can move ahead in protecting the town like we wanted to do in the first place and getting the jobs and opportunities in place that we need to prosper,” he said, in a direct reference to monitoring the pending natural gas industry through a road use ordinance as well as taking advantage of the economic boost it promises.
In a strong show of support for safe natural gas drilling in Chenango County, none of the candidates who ran for government positions based on an anti-gas drilling stance won.
In Columbus, where first-term incumbent supervisor Pam Weidman ran and was elected to a seat on the town’s council instead, independent candidate Tom P. Grace earned 107 votes, beating two challengers: former Supervisor George G. Coates and newcomer Brandon R. Loomis. Grace could not be reached for comment.
Coventry voters this time overwhelmingly selected George L. Westcott for county supervisor. It was the second time he ran for that office..
“I definitely want to thank the voters of the town of Coventry and residents for putting me in office ... I’m still speechless,” said Westcott this morning.
“The number one thing is to mend relationships and bring the town back together ... we want to be a cohesive group ... there was a large divide within the town during the election season and it’s time to get that healed ... then start tackling issues of the town,” he said.
In Smithville, Fred J. Heisler Jr. a Republican, earned 200 votes to Roger J. Connelly’s 165. Reached after the tally last evening, Heisler, who replaces retiring Allan Johnson, said his opponent ran a good campaign.
“We had a spirited debate. It was a good election and a good result across the whole town board. It was a very interesting race.”
And, finally, in Smyrna, James B. Bays won a sixth term as supervisor handily by a vote of 195 to John Grosso’s 90.
“I appreciate the confidence that the citizens of Smyrna continue to have with me. We have a lot of challenges ahead and I am very pleased and excited to continue to work with the board to solve them,” Bays said last night.
Republican Supervisor George Seneck remains at the head of the council in Guilford despite a hefty challenge from write-in candidate Dennis E. Martin. Seneck took 335 votes to Martin’s 118, a similar result to a past competition between the two candidates. Seneck said he looked for to completing the town’s comprehensive plan and developing a road use agreement.
“Above and beyond, we want to be watching our spending ... get the flood damage repairs completed. We have a lot of challenges in town and county ... once again the big things are watching our spending to keep taxes down,” he said.
The vote was closest in McDonough, where two rivals, incumbent Supervisor Arrington Canor and Homer D. Smith, who has served three terms in the past faced off against each other for the fifth time. Canor retrained his position for a seventh term on the county board by a vote of 149 to 125.
North Norwich chiropractor and political newcomer Robert E. Wansor, who was uncontested for retiring Richard B. Decker’s position, received 117 votes. Decker came to office in 1994.
Chenango County District Attorney Joseph A. McBride chalked up a resounding 5,045 votes of confidence. City Judge James E. Downey earned 549 votes from his constituents and unopposed Norwich Mayor Maiurano earned 509.
Absentee ballots could make a difference in a couple of close races for council positions, Chenango County Board of Elections Republican Commissioner Harriet Jenkins said this morning.
The unseasonably warm weather coupled with candidates who succeeded in getting the vote out in their towns contributed to the good turnout, she added. However, the results from far-flung towns such as Afton came in very late last night, and a mistake in Oxford left those tallies blank until this morning.
“An inspector, in their haste, went home after the long day and forgot to take the memory cards out of the machines and take them to us,” Jenkins said. There were no contested races in Oxford.
Chenango County Clerk of the Board RC Woodford said the turnover in county supervisors was “significant in recent years.”
Sun Staff Writers Brian Golden, Julian Kappel and Shawn Magrath contributed to this report.