Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Alderman Peter Sullivan BOOTED!

"Manchester aldermen: Sullivan booted, staging runoff between 2 rivals"
By SCOTT BROOKS, New Hampshire Union Leader Staff, September 16, 2009

MANCHESTER – Alderman Peter Sullivan was knocked out of contention last night in the highly competitive race for the Ward 3 alderman's seat, setting the stage for a run-off between two rivals who have experience representing the downtown ward in City Hall.

Former Aldermen Pat Long, a Democrat, and Joe Kelly Levasseur, a Republican, were tied at 223 votes in that race, according to unofficial results. Their totals were enough to edge out the Democratic incumbent, Sullivan, who had 162 votes.

Yesterday's primary also presaged a tight race in Ward 12, which will pit Republican former Alderman Keith Hirschmann against Democrat Patrick Arnold, and in Ward 2, where former city Parks Director Ron Ludwig, a Democrat, will face down school board member Bob O'Sullivan, a Republican.

The gap between Hirschmann and Arnold was especially narrow, with Hirschmann besting the 26-year-old law clerk by just 4 votes.

"The numbers show it is incredibly close," Arnold said afterward. Ultimately, he said, "the hardest-working candidate is going to win in November."

Races for the other two open board seats, in Wards 1 and 6, also took shape yesterday. In Ward 6, Republican state Rep. Will Infantine came out on top, beating his nearest rival, New Hampshire Young Democrats President Garth Corriveau, by 64 votes. The two men will square off in the Nov. 3 election.

Meanwhile, Democratic school board member Joyce Craig proved every bit the front-runner in Ward 1, taking 75 percent of the vote in a three-way race. She'll go head-to-head with Richard Higgins, a 55-year-old Republican who trailed way behind with an 18-percent showing.

Outside of the mayor's race, Sullivan's defeat in Ward 3 was the talk of the night. Alderman Russ Ouellette, a Democrat, said he expected Sullivan would finish "at least in second place." "To me, that's a shocker," Ouellette said.

Sullivan had unkind words for both of his rivals last night -- particularly Levasseur, whom he called "unfit for any public office." "It's unfortunate," Sullivan said, "because now you're going to have a general election match-up between two people that don't really reflect the changing face of Manchester. You have two guys that practice old-school politics."

Long said he expected the race to be close. He could not account for Sullivan's loss, saying, "My message wasn't on Sullivan. I knew I had a lot of support there."

Republicans suffered a defeat in Ward 5, where the GOP candidate, Bob Tarr, was brushed aside in favor of two Democrats: Alderman Ed Osborne and state Rep. Ted Rokas. Osborne was top vote-getter, with 321 votes, compared to 184 for Rokas and 97 for Tarr.

The Republican candidate also came up short in Ward 8, where voters will see a race between Democratic Alderman Betsi DeVries and bar owner Christine Pariseau Telge, an independent. DeVries won the primary with 608 votes, compared to 400 for Pariseau Telge and 113 for Republican James C. Webb, Jr.

Meanwhile, in Ward 7, Alderman Bill Shea, a Democrat, crushed his competition, garnering 59 percent of the vote. He'll compete against mail carrier Lisa J. Gravel, an independent, in November.

The race between Ludwig and O'Sullivan in Ward 2 came down to 10 votes, with Ludwig on top. Elise Annunziata, a Democrat and first-time candidate, had a strong showing, trailing O'Sullivan by just 23 votes, though her take was not enough to keep her candidacy alive.

The candidate who failed to break through in Ward 12 was Gerard Brunelle. Strangely enough, though, Brunelle will still be on the ballot in November in a special election to decide who will fill the seat for the remainder of the current term, which ends in early January. The seat has been open since Kelleigh Murphy's resignation in May.