Spencer lead thrills Democrats in tight race

Chester — The old style of gathering vote tallies from telephone calls or runners and recording them on large sheets of paper gave way Tuesday night to the computer age. Noel Spencer and his campaign staff watched the results on his laptop as his opponent in Orange County Legislature District 8 — Dimitrios Lambros, the incumbent — got off to a healthy lead. As he hit the “refresh” button on his computer, Spencer started to see the numbers swing his way. The group gathered at Amarone’s Italian Restaurant in Sugar Loaf. It’s a wireless Internet “hot spot,” so the computer seemed an ideal substitute for old-fashioned paper and calculator. But it was clear that the board of elections web site was behind the Chester Town Hall in amassing figures. Shortly before 10 p.m., Chester Councilwoman Cindy Smith brought in results from four election districts that had not yet been posted on the web. After sharing her figures and discussing her prospects and those of various Democrats around the county, Smith went back to town hall for more up-to-date numbers. At about 10:25 p.m. she returned to announce she had won re-election to her town board seat, 1,371 to 1,180. And she told Spencer he had won Chester. All that was left to do was wait for returns from Tuxedo’s District 4, which is mainly the Eagle Valley development. Smith had kind words for her opponent, Alexander Jamieson. “He fought just as hard as I did, and he ran a good campaign,” she said. “But people liked my commonsense approach.” Another incumbent, Steve Neuhaus, a Republican, won the other open seat on the town board. “It has been exhausting,” Spencer said of Election Day. “I was up at 5:30. We took coffee and doughnuts to some of the polling stations, and we’ve been going all day.” As it turned out, it was also a long evening. One town after another turned in its figures — except Tuxedo. Spencer used radio, print, and television advertising in his campaign, and knocked on thousands of doors. He gave Hugh Marius, who has participated in many campaigns in the past, credit for advice on strategy. Susan Watson came by to watch the returns. The unofficial “mayor of Wickham Village” said Spencer’s Halloween candy distribution might have helped his victory there. She invited Spencer to come by and help give out candy to several hundred kids who came by her home that night. And, she said, she kept talking him up to neighbors in the community. The endorsements of the unions in Orange County was also a major boost, he said, noting that members helped with much of the routine work of the campaign. It all paid off. At 11 p.m. the results from Tuxedo were in. Noel Spencer had 1,967 votes; Dimitrios Lambros had 1,930. Even as he opened the champagne to celebrate, Spencer warned his staff that the 37-vote margin was slim enough to be vulnerable to change when the absentee ballots are counted. That didn’t stop a joyful celebration. If Spencer prevails once all the paper ballots are counted, he will vacate his Chester Town Board seat on Jan. 1 to serve on the legislature. If he loses, he will return to the town board until his term is up, in 2007. One advantage of the electronic count was that a simple scrolling gave results for the entire county. The Democrats held their breath as Wayne Decker eked out a seven-vote victory in District 13 and groaned when it became obvious that Bonnie Kraham had lost her District 18 seat. They scrolled up and down to see results in various towns and in the courts. If Spencer’s win holds, the Democrats will gain two seats in the legislature, bringing them within one vote of the Republicans — 11 Republicans, 10 Democrats.