With town, school and state legislative candidates on the ballot, about 1,400 Windham voters came out to the polls on Tuesday with an additional 221 voters casting their ballots absentee.
The winners in town elections were incumbent Town Councilor Elizabeth Wisecup for the Town Council-at-Large seat and Councilor Robert Muir for the Town Council West District seat.
In the School Board election, incumbent School Board member Donna Cobb and Jeffrey Pierce won two contested seats on the board.
In the three-way race for the Council-at-Large seat, Councilor Wisecup (836 votes) beat challengers Brian Butler (619 votes) and Ryan McDonald (174 votes).
Councilor Wisecup said she was exhausted by the long campaign, but pleased Windham residents voted for her to remain on the council.
“I really appreciate the support and look forward to doing my best on the council,” she said.
Defeated challenger Brian Butler said he thoroughly enjoyed his campaign for Town Council and is thankful for the support from those who voted for him.
“I had a lot of fun doing this,” Butler said. “I got to meet many great people in town. And in a town like this, demographics and who shows up to the polls makes a difference in an off-season election.”
When asked if he will run again for Town Council, Butler said it is a possibility because, after all, he now has campaign signs.
Councilor Muir stood solid ground unopposed for the West District seat with about 1,300 votes and said he’s thankful for the vote of confidence from Windham residents.
“I just wanted to thank the people who came out and voted for me even though I was unopposed,” Muir said. “With the growth in this town, there are a lot of issues coming up and I’m happy to be on the council.”
In the election for two School Board seats, School Board member Cobb won majority vote (881 votes), followed by Jeffrey Pierce (867 votes) who took the second seat to defeat Marge Govoni (581 votes).
Cobb campaigned to continue her work on school policy and improve Windham education.
“I’m pleased,” Cobb said. “I really enjoy the school board and hope to finish with the work that’s been started.”
Pierce, a former School Board member who joined the board again earlier this year to fill a vacancy, is happy to have voters affirm his position on the board and is glad to be back involved with decisions that impact Windham education.
“It’s all about the kids,” Pierce said. “I’ve been a part-time children’s advocate for 20 years and I’m not ready to give that up yet.”
Defeated challenger Marge Govoni is disappointed to lose her second bid for School Board, but vows to continually be active in other ways to ensure that Windham school children and teachers are represented in School Board decisions.
“I felt I would have been an asset, but the people who voted chose who they want and I wish them well,” Govoni said. “I’d most definitely like to thank the people who voted for me and supported me. But, in the end, I guess Windham just isn’t ready for any change yet.”
Jeremy Egan was the first 17-year-old voter from Windham to vote in a state primary election, though he was not allowed to vote for Town Council and School Board candidates. A new state law enacted last year allows 17-year-old voters to vote in state primaries if they will be 18 years of age by the November state elections.
State representative candidates for both the Democratic and Republican parties spent election day introducing themselves to Windham voters at the polls, although there were no inter-party contentions for local state legislative seats.
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