By Tammy Daniels On: 07:31PM / Tuesday September 27, 2011
Campaign supporters were out at St. Elizabeth's Parish Center, where four of the city's wards vote.
Toting up the results of Tuesday's preliminary election.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Voters have selected the two candidates — Richard Alcombright and Ronald Boucher — who will face off for mayor in the general election in November.
Incumbent Alcombright outpolled both his challengers in the balloting that saw about 18 percent of the city's 9,000-odd voters go to the polls.
"I was very pleased. If you look at the numbers, the percentages almost to follow kind of what they did in the last election back in '09," said Alcombright. "I think we were upwards of 60 percent."
The incumbent said this was just a battle and his campaign will "run a strong, hard campaign for the rest of the time."
"We have to work hard," he said, pledging to "stay focused on our message and stay positive." "Ron's a good candidate and the next few weeks will be telling as we dig into the issues and see really where our differences lie."
Boucher wasn't too far behind the incumbent. Both handily outstripped third place Robert Martelle, whose campaign barely registered.
"I'm very excited," said Boucher. "I thought the turnout for us at 751[votes] was excellent considering less than two weeks ago, we just had our kickoff and our campaign has only been together, working at it for only six weeks.
"The mayor probably outspent us three to one in advertising," he said. "All I can say is I look forward to the opportunity to debate the mayor in the coming weeks. We will talk about the issues that are important to the city ... the vision and the ideas going forth."
Boucher noted the large number of voters who failed to turnout. "I believe this is going to be a horse race to the end ... there's a lot of people sitting out there waiting for what we have to say."
In total, Alcombright received 1,105 votes; Boucher, the current City Council president, earned 751, and Martelle 216.
Ken O'Brien, head warden at St. Elizabeth's Parish Center, described the turnout as "medium" and said it "was steady and slow all day."
"It went as smooth as can be," he said.
The voting wasn't straightforward, however, because voters were asked to pick "not more than two" candidates. That means some people voted two candidates, but many more apparently voted for one if the high number of blanks is any indication.
A blank vote occurred if only one vote — or no votes — was cast on the ballot. So one ballot could have an actual vote and a blank vote. There were 1,206 blank votes on the 1,664 ballots cast, indicating that voters may not have understand they could vote for two candidates or didn't care to vote for two.
Each of the five wards showed a similar trend with about two-thirds of voters selecting only one name. Some supporters may have tried to outwit each other by selecting their candidate and throwing a vote to Martelle; others likely picked the two front-runners.
But it's obvious many more voters didn't even bother to come out, figuring they'd wait to cast their ballots for real come November.
Preliminary Election Results
Ward 1
Ward 2
Ward 3
Ward 4
Ward 5
Total
Richard Alcombright
204
228
157
291
225
1,105
Ronald Boucher
129
162
100
214
146
751
Robert Martelle
31
63
32
52
38
216
Write-ins
9
6
14
13
8
50
Blanks
233
253
179
322
219
1,206
Total ballots cast
303
356
241
446
318
1,664
Update: Rewrite throughout; quotes added at 10:48 p.m. Tuesday.
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.
Editor: The election was to vote for not more than two, so voting for one created a blank. One actual vote; one blank vote. I Agree (1) - I Disagree (0)
Only 21 percent win by a mayor who won in a landslide last time? Voters are not happy. Watch Ron build on this. Voters just need to see more. Dick gas not closed the deal.
I toatally agree he has just begun, the mayor better not count his chicks yet before they hatch, half the people don't even come out and vote for the preliminary
Ron is doing a great Job!, it takes guts to put yourself out there and do what he is doing! Mr mayor better not count his chickens yet before they hatch because the fox is out there!
The blank votes is just the result of good voting strategy. Anyone who casts two votes might be giving the one candidate they DON'T like the advantage. For instance, if I support candidate A but also voted for B because I don't like C ... I may have inadvertently knocked A out of the running by giving an extra vote to B. So when it comes time to vote for Council candidates, don't vote for nine just because there are nine seats. Only vote for the people you really want to serve.
You have to read the numbers carefully. Those who opposed Alcombright were nearly 50% of the vote. This is not a good sign for any office holder especially for a sitting Mayor. Alcombright is the favorite but anyone who thinks he is not weak is not reading these results right way. This past week I recieved a robo call and literature from the Mayor. From what I know Boucher did nothing but put up signs. Dick Alcombright is in a race and the preliminary results indicates he is vulnerable and it will be a close election. It could go either way and right now it is too close to call. If Boucher raises money he could actually win easily. Who would have thought.
People, you get no indication from this election as to who will come out on top in November. We had 1,664 voters cast ballots today, compared to 5,200 in the Alcombright/Barrett election two years ago. If you're bad at math, that means over 3,500 more voters will likely turn out in November, because this election will be just as contentious. And honestly, the incumbent SHOULD have a solid backing in any election because his organization should be out there pushing every supporter to vote, and it just didn't show today, did it? It was not a "medium" turnout, as said in this story - it was an abysmal turnout. If you're stupidly declaring victory, no matter what side, look at the numbers, and remember that today's turnout doesn't even come to half of the last race.
@analysis The mayor's name was marked on 66% of ALL ballots. That's not "nearly half."
The race is just beginning and the final will be tighter than 21%. Both men will run good campaigns and the voters will decide.
At this point the mayor looks very strong, and in the words of one of Ron's internet supporters, "that's an undisputed fact." (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)
Unless something very strange happens, Ron has a very steep road in front of him.
Bouchers biggest mistake is he aligned himself with Barrett which is why he is getting the same numbers as Barrett. He relied on him so much he used the campaign slogan Back to the Basics which everyone knows is Back to Barrett philosophy.
what is 2 years ZERO PRODUCTION
THANKS DICK KEEEP THE TOWN A STAND STILL lol please ron show the people who really care that north adams is a city to move on witch meens dick had his shot .not even coming close to jb.........go ron
Boucher needs to look at the positives that are happening in our community. I am not sure what he means by Back to Basics, do I need to begin living like I did during the depression? No Thanks.
We need to keep Mayor Alcombright in the corner office.
Did anyone else find the ballot surprising? Pittsfield voted for one choice, and I was expecting the same here. Why would we choose two candidates on a ballot, when we're voting our choice of the three? This gives artificial votes to candidates, and potentially in a close three-person race, could have changed the outcome. Found it very uncomfortable to consider voting for two - and did not.
Boucher's had a cookout, popcorn booth at the main street summer festival, cold called hundreds of residents, had standouts, and the list goes on with continued events already on the calendar. You don't know what you are talking about.
I agree, Why, it was confusing. Does this mean if there had been 20 council candidates we would have voted for 18 in the preliminary election? Just plain odd. And hundreds of people did vote for two candidates, which skews the real numbers and pretty much renders this vote unreadable when it comes to the final election. As state in a previous post, the turnout was also very low compared to the final election two years ago, and I would bet we'll get to that kind of turnout in November, which will make this even more interesting, since over 3,000 people haven't yet weighed in on this.
Rons support will continue to grow when he starts to talk about the issues next week in detail...stay tuned. This election was a waste of time (thanks mr. martelle) and accomplished nothing
Editor: Your single vote counted. Your second vote, which you didn't make, was counted as a blank. I Agree (4) - I Disagree (0)
We must all stop and think before the November vote for North Adams mayor. Mr. Alcombright has governed with soft-spoken reasoning. This is in marked contrast to his 20-year+ predecessor. When Mr. Boucher announced his tone was load, strident and confrontational, much like his supporters on this forum. North Adams, as is the nation, is in a sorrowful recession. If you don't want hiked taxes, don't expect or demand services. But don't return North Adams to a confrontation mayor, whose training was in a forum where there former mayor set the example of depth of thinking, and confrontational exchanges.
Interested in hearing debates to come soon.....I think Ron will say "all the things people want to hear" to get votes. Thats the impression I get from him. I think Mayor Alcombright will give us true facts. Guess we will see . . . . .
Man, I am tired of this "talking point." The mayor put forth a list of things that would be looked at for cuts if the override didn't pass. He never said ALL of them would be cut. When the override failed, cuts were made to areas on the list he presented, like he said they would. He was straight forward, laid it all out, accepted the vote of the citizens and then did EXACTLY WHAT HE SAID WE WAS GOING TO DO!!!! No lies, no hypocrisy, just straight forward governence. Stop trying to pretend it happened any other way.
Eric, you are the one who is lying. When the mayor presented it is was these will definitely be cut, and these could be.....the could be's were complete fabrications and a lot of definites never happened...you and I both now this to be true.
Facts are not talking points.
Eric: Exactly! Its just nonsense to try to make people think the Mayor was dishonest so Boucher can get votes from those who "actually" believe all that nonsense. The intelligent informed voters will hopefuly know better than to fall for those tactics. Once again...I didn't hear anything supporting Boucher....just attacks on the Mayor. Enough said!
NA Voter The mayor will give us true facts. OK
Like we have no money and then give out raises. I am sorry but I guess when he said we have no money that was a LIE . How about when he said ( we are just looking into a sewer fee). If something looks like a duck and walks like a duck it is safe to say it is a duck. How about bringing jobs to the city. People have had enough of his truth. VOTE RON
@Wayne - Are you saying that we didn't have to cut the $1.25 million after all. Or are you saying that the $800K cut out of the schools that took them to the lowest budget allowed by law was free?
Your gross distortions of reality are tiresome.
We already know Ron's plans - do what JB3 tells him. Apply for state and federal welfare grants. Bring in slum developers who "develop affordable housing" (aka Section 8) with tax money. Bring in all those secret businesses that supposedly called John's office every day wanting to locate here. (He couldn't land them when the economy was good. What makes him think that he'll land them now?) Declare Monument Square an "Enterprise Zone" and subsidize failing companies to move into Conte and Notre Dame, in the mean time keeping commercial taxes TWICE as high as residential and wondering why market forces don't entice people to move companies here.
Back to Barrett is a sad joke and lousy campaign slogan.
No money you are lying. That is not Ron's plarform at all. All you alcombright supporters are suffering from BDS (Barrett Derangment Syndrome). Trying to tie Ron to Barrett is simply not going to take hold. No one is buying it and you shouldn't be selling it.
"Back to Basics"? NOT a wise choice for campaign slogan. Cities should move forward not backward. AND....everyone pretty much already knows that JB3 will be the brains behind this candidate. Its pretty obvious. People are not stupid you know!
No Money You prove a point. When the mayors supporters are faced with truth( the mayor has lied time and time again) they attack the truth tellers. You attacked me , Ron, and John B. It is so obvious that you are probabley another person that is supported by the tax payers and are protecting your income. If I were I would hide behind a fake name to. SHAME ON YOU. VOTE RON
Puhlease You think the mayor is Mr. Popular ? OK tell everyone why after Begging for weeks in meetings he could do no better than 1200 votes in the override election ?? It seems that Mr.Popular can be defeated. So who is the stupid one??
It's hard seeing how many negative comments are coming into this campaign, and it makes us look like the federal government, for pete's sake! To my eyes, it looks like civility left our politics after the last election. Don't we all just want what is best for our little city? We can disagree about that, but stop the nastiness, please.
I find it very amusing reading all the comments from both the Alcombright,and Boucher supporters. Many of the comments regarding both candidates are either half truths, or instances of people not knowing the facts, or they are just simply being malicious. There is a very large group of supporters on each side, which need to just slow it down, and listen to the candidates before forming an opinion either way. I would think, and suggest an intelligent voter would wait to hear from both candidates in a debate, and then decide what each has to offer the resident's of the City in regards to their vision. Then take the time at the polls, decide what is in your best interest, your families best interest, and the City of North Adams. Thank you.
NA lover What political campaign that you know of never had negative comments ??? Is pointing out comments , actions and the record of a person who is running being negative?? If a person who is running for office does something that seems nasty then it is the not only the right but the duty for people to speek out . Weather it is in a small city of or Washington . Common sense.
Back to basics!!! What Ron is trying to say is Live within your budget. Lets not hammer the tax payers! If we cant afford it we wont buy it. Lets all graduate kidnergarten! They are both good guys with differant views and plans. There is no need for personal attacks on either lets let the election decide!!! If you have no good to say about either then look for something better to do like get a life!!!
Two more years of Alcombright will set the city back to the 70's.Nothing was done then and nothing being done now nice guy but not a good mayor.This city needs another Barret.By the way stop trying to save the churches I think giveing our children a good education is more important than a stupid steeple we cant afford to do repairs on and doesn't bring any taxes in
I hope that Boucher ties himself to Barrett especially his leadership skills. You and other Alcombright diciples have spent the last two years trying to discredit Barrett anyway you can. Take a drive around North Adams and take a good look at everything Barrett had a hand in from the new library addition, two schools, a refurbished downtown, new recreational facilities, a veterans memorial and so much more. The best part he did it all within prop 2 1/2 and people could afford to live here. What does Alcombright point to, painted crosswalks, benches,two pocket parks that were once blight that Barrett cleaned up. I would give anything to have a person back in the corner office like Barrett and not one who is controlled by special interest groups. Barrett never backed down to any group and did what was best for the city. Imagine what historians will say when they look back and compare Alcombright to Barrett. Alcombright is a sad joke and his recent comment about new jobs, "We have nine new jobs at Deaparato's." is just classic Alcombright. Go to Dick Alcombright's web site and read even more about this person who is Mayor and see some of the lies being told. It is pathetic and he should be ashamed of himself. I have lived in North Adams all my life and I had more hope for this city when we were striking in front of the Sprague gates on Marshal Street with no money for food then I do with this mayor in office.
Post this or not and the Editor What did this comment have to do with the subject ?? Anyway not a little cranky but tired of political liars. And yes I love TEA. People that dare to speak up about political liars expect to be attacked because liars can not debate truth. So thank you for proving that truth.
It wasn't until I read his interview in the Transcript that I realized just how much Ron wants us to go "Back to Barrett" in terms of governing style (aka dictatorship): "I don't believe in committees or groups making decisions."
A "decider" who won't be open to from groups or committees? Sound familiar?
The cities of Pittsfield and North Adams will hold municipal elections for mayor, city council and school committee in 2015
You may vote absentee: if you will be absent from your town or city on election day, have a physical disability that prevents you from voting at the polls or cannot vote at the polls because to religious beliefs.
State Election
