DePalo and Fitzgerald Win Election

The official results are in and Selectman Maurice DePalo won his bid for re-election and Henry Fitzgerald unseated Selectman Benjamin Tartaglia. Official results are below:

Name: Total Votes:

* Maurice DePalo 1823

* Henry Fitzgerald 1962

George Smith 599

Benjamin Tartaglia 1070

There was an overall voter turnout of 14 percent, according to Town Clerk Sandra Wright, with 3,089 voters coming to the polls. That's up from 9 percent last year.

"I'm very excited and happy the residents have put their faith in my leadership as selectman," said newly-elected Henry Fitzgerald after hearing the results.

Selectman Maurice DePalo was surprised by his win.

"To say I'm ecstatic is an understatement," said DePalo, who will begin his 19th year as selectmen, making him the second-longest sitting selectman since 1953. "I was really nervous coming into the election—I thought Ben would pull out a lot more votes. And I'm glad that people still want me to be selectman because I wasn't ready to go yet."

Benjamin Tartaglia, who lost his bid for re-election, was sad at the news of his loss.

"Life goes on," he said. "I've won some, and I've lost some. And I wish Henry Fitzgerald well."

George Smith said he got into the race on a "snap" decision, but still wants to work with the town. "I found some great ideas for revenue, and I believed I could make those changes," he said. "I wanted to bring grass roots back and I think that it was a magnificent defeat—600 people believed in me and next time I'd like to make those numbers three-fold."

The winners of the contested races for the town meeting member seats are:

Precinct 1:

Mark Adler

Arthur B. Brunell, Jr.

Timothy J. Daly

Judith E. Merriman

Richard Ricker

Paul N. Taylor

William F. Miller

William P. Orfalea

Precinct 2:

John Cygielnik

William P. Gordon

Matthew E. Lebow

Stephen r. Meola

John J. Morrissey

Donna Largess O'Connor

A. Wayne Sampson

Dennis W. Mastro

Precinct 7:

Alice E. Brennan

Peter D. Collins

Donald R. Gray

Bretta M. Karp

Mark T. Murray

Deborah H. Peeples

Judith L. Polito

Brigid E. Malee-Rubin

John R. Samia