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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Incumbent Richard Alcombright handily bested challenger John Barrett III on Tuesday night.  

Alcombright, winning his fourth term in office, bested the former 13-term mayor by by 376 votes, although by less than half the margin when he first beat him 2009.

The results were obvious as the results came in, with Alcombright sweeping all five wards earning 2,430 votes to Barrett's 2,054.

The general election was a flip of September's preliminary election when the former dean of mayor found strong support to take all five wards to get on the ballot. Unofficial preliminary numbers were 1,240 for Barrett and 974 for Alcombright; Eric Rudd was a distant third.

"I'm just really excited, we're really happy we won," Alcombright said at his crowded campaign headquarters on Main Street.

Among his priorities are to get the Colegrove Park Elementary School finished and begin preparing for the next year's budget.

First though, will be breakfast.
"I told myself if I win I'll get pancakes and bacon tomorrow morning, that's my thing, and by 10 o'clock I'll be back at it," he joked.

The mayor said he realized that there will be residents unhappy with the way the election turned out, but he reiterated his commitment to transparency, respect and an open door. He hoped to heal some of the divisiveness this last campaign had riven through the community.

"I am the mayor of all residents and it's my promise never to exclude anyone," he said.

While Alcombright supporters spilled out into the street and noshed on pizza, the mood was less sanguine at Barrett's after party at the American Legion.

More than 100 supporters crowded into the Legion to wait for the results, which were announced before Barrett himself arrived.

By the time the former mayor entered the room to thunderous applause, supporters knew that he had lost the election.

Barrett said he was disappointed in the results but found the silver lining in his loss.

"I feel very proud that I had such a great bunch of people working for me," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, you're the salt of the earth."

Barrett said he hoped that Alcombright would sound conciliatory notes toward his supporters.

"If not, I fear for this city and I fear for the people who lived here a long time," he said. "Don't be disappointed. The city has to come together and it will come together if they let you have a voice. You have to have a voice in this city. I hope the current mayor will give you that opportunity."

Barrett assured his supporters he would be OK and was looking forward to playing more golf and finishing the book he has been writing.

"It's time for me to fade out of the picture," he said.  "I love you all and I made some great friends."

The election could be seen as a referendum on Alcombright's policies and initiatives — he'd beat back Barrett twice and two surrogates who had been endorsed by Barrett.

"Tonight we've won a hard-fought campaign that I think will long be remembered," he said. "We had a people-powered campaign and the truth was on our side and that made failure impossible."

Robert Cardimino commiserates with John Barrett III after Tuesday's election. Both lost their attempts at elected office.

Barrett's showing in the preliminary, however, gave the former banker pause.

"I was pretty down, yet when I was feeling my lowest, someone came to my rescue and that was each and every one of you," he told his packed headquarters.

Election officials had thought a higher turnout based the candidates' first outing. At that time, some 5,200 people cast votes in the mayoral election, or about 58 percent. This time it was down slightly to 52 percent, or 4,485 out of the city's 8,691 registered voters.

Assistant City Clerk Nancy Canales noted that 170 new voters had registered since the preliminary election; the overall total of registered voters was up 150 from September.

Alcombright thought heavy turnout would help his campaign but voting was lighter than expected in the evening. That may have been because voters took advantage of the earlier opening of the polls at 7 a.m.; 719 voted between 7 and 9 a.m.

Also winning election were seven of the eight incubments running: Lisa Blackmer, Nancy Bullett, Keith Bona, Kate Merrigan, Benjamin Lamb, Eric Buddington and Joshua Moran. Wayne Wilkinson, who was elected in 2013, failed to garner enough votes.

Coming back onto the council are former councilors and mayoral candidates Ronald A. Boucher and Robert R. Moulton Jr. Left out were Robert Cardimino and Joe Gniadek.

As Barrett hugged supporters goodbye, city resident Robert Lefebvre said he was "disappointed with the city of North Adams."

"Fees keep going up, taxes keep going up, and it's crucifying small business," said Lefebvre, who owns RL Waste. "The current administration was making it hard to do business in North Adams. I definitely don't think North Adams is better now than it was six years ago."

But Lefebvre said he hopes the city can find a way back together after this divisive campaign, a task that lies on Alcombright's shoulders.

"We're a split community right now. We've reached a fork in the road," he said. "I hope the current mayor understands it was not a landslide."

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