Barch, Thompson Elected to Town Council

Incumbent Mackie Barch and former Councilmember John Thompson have claimed the two open seats on the Kensington council after waiting nearly two hours to hear the results.

Out of 1277 registered voters, . at the Kensington Armory. Residents could cast votes for up to two candidates, but could choose to vote for only one. Thompson secured 296 votes followed closely by Barch who had 286 votes.

Barch and Thompson waited for the news at in the company of family and friends, including Mayor Peter Fosselman, Councilmember Sean McMullen and Delegate Al Carr (D-Dist. 18). The restaurant crowd roared in applause as the newly elected councilmembers announced the outcome. Thompson and Barch thanked everyone for their support and emphasized their goals of revitalizing Kensington.

"This town is ready to move forward with this [sector] plan," Barch said. "We've got to reach out to our neighbors...and continue to talk about what the plan really is."

Before the official numbers were posted outside of the , each candidate had to be called and informed of the outcome. Barry Peoples, who waited for the results at home, said earlier in the night that he knew it was going to be a close race. He secured 230 votes, just trailing Barch by 56 votes. Stowe Locke Teti said he was going to wait for the results with friends and family at Julie O'Malley's house. 190 ballots were cast in his favor.

Before the number of voters was released, the candidates and Delegate Jeff Waldstreicher (D-Dist. 18) said they thought the turnout was impressive.

"The turnout seems heavier than last September's Democratic Primary election," Waldstreicher said. "But it's hard to tell when voting is compressed to three hours instead of 12 hours."

At Cafe 1894, the mayor said that the turnout tonight was one of the best, if not the best turnout in Kensington election history.

Now that the election is over, residents have one year before having to vote for new councilmembers. Next June, two more councilmembers—Lydia Sullivan and Sean McMullen—will be up for re-election if they choose to run. Mayor Peter Fosselman will also be up for re-election.