Bob’s Election-Night Victory Statement
Thanks… All 500+ of you!
November 5, 2019
Tonight, you, Enfield’s Grassroots, the everyday citizens who make this town work, made your voices crystal clear. You like Old-Fashioned Representative Democracy, and you want to see it grow in Enfield.
Turnout in today’s Enfield General Election was larger than many (though not me) expected. And by your votes you’ve elected me along with Stephanie Redmond to be your next year’s Enfield Town Councilpersons.
Here’s how the votes break out, and they may require a bit of explaining. They reflect both same-day voting at the Living Water Church and the 46 Early Votes cast during the State’s new 10-day pre-election window. For the Two Councilperson Positions:
Stephanie Redmond: 512 votes
Robert Lynch: 503 votes
Darren McGee: 196 votes.
Absentee Ballots will be counted later. The Absentee count may not occur for a couple of weeks.
Also, in the Enfield race for Town Clerk, Democratic nominee Ellen Mary Woods beat third-party candidate Mary Cornell, 424 votes (63.6%) to Cornell’s 241 votes (36.1%)
Supervisor Beth McGee and Highway Superintendent Barry “Buddy” Rollins, each unopposed, won their races handily.
As you’ll note, Stephanie and I came close to tying, just as we did in the Democratic Primary. But as I see it, here’s the important take-away.
Stephanie Redmond and Darren McGee ran as a team. Each cross-endorsed the other. They each campaigned together. Each was endorsed by the Supervisor, as well as by other prominent Town Board members. Logic holds that if a voter were supporting Darren and not me, his or her first or second-choice would usually be Stephanie, since each voter could vote for two candidates.
Given that 748 ballots were cast for Town Councilperson, and I secured support from 503 of them, one can conclude that more than 67 per cent (two-thirds) of those voting favored me. That, for me, constitutes a landslide, and an overwhelming expression of voter support.
I am humbled by your support, and by your dedication.
The result also means, of course, that Stephanie Redmond remains popular with Enfield’s electorate. Take nothing away from Ms. Redmond’s performance. Similar to me, she garnered 68 per cent of the voters’ approval. But since I, unlike Stephanie, had no so-called “running mate,” one may view her approval level as more predictable. Voters who cast ballots primarily in support of me always needed that “second-choice.”
As many of you know, the Board of Elections ran out of blank ballots by nightfall. District #3 (southern Enfield) was particularly impacted. District #1 (central Enfield) fell victim next; then District #2 (Enfield’s northern neighborhoods). Some of you went home rather than wait for fresh ballots to arrive. I’m heartened to learn from election’s staff that many of you returned later to vote. Some of you had to file Affidavit Ballots instead. And yes, near the Election Day’s end, the ballots ran out again.
The poor planning exemplified by this mistake is inexcusable. And I promise that as your Councilperson-elect, I will work with Supervisor McGee and the rest of our Board to ensure such a shortage never happens again. To deny your vote is to deny your liberty.
Of the 503 votes you cast for me, 477 of them (or nearly 95 per cent) were cast on at the Living Water Church. Despite the novelty of New York’s early voting, one can see that voting the Old-Fashioned way—on Election Day, and in our own home town, not Ithaca or Lansing, remains the preferred option. Maybe Early Voting will catch on in the future. I voted early. I rather liked it. At least there, the ballots didn’t run out.
I readily congratulate Stephanie Redmond on her victory. Though we’ve had our differences during this campaign, I respect Stephanie and promise to work with her in the months and years ahead. In particular, I wish to draw upon Ms. Redmond’s environmental expertise and enthusiasm. We should always embrace the mosaic of opinion diversity that is Enfield. We are all each-other’s equal. No one stands taller or wiser or more perfect than anyone else. Therefore, we must ask one another to contribute his or her unique talents, knowledge and skills to this community’s betterment. I will contribute mine; I trust Stephanie will contribute hers.
Nonetheless, in the race for Councilperson, one cannot escape the fact that as many as 276 of the 748 voters (more than 36 per cent) chose only one candidate for the office, not two. Very many of those who either voted for me, or else voted for someone else, left their second-choice blank. Without sorting through the ballots themselves, we’ll never know how the preferences were aligned. But to me, it seems to signal a high level of voter dissatisfaction with those “second choices.”
Similarly, though less dramatically, in the race for Supervisor, 150 of those voting (20 per cent) left their choice blank rather than support the incumbent’s reelection. Again, the observer may draw a degree of voter dissatisfaction with the status quo.
So much for statistics. Tonight, let’s celebrate victory. This has been a high-energy campaign. It’s had its moments. Now, let’s move forward. Let’s acknowledge our differences, sort through our problems, and heal our wounds. We’ve got too much to do to fight. We’ve got a town, our Town, to run.
Yes, We are One Enfield!
And again, gang, thanks.
Bob