Spencer upsets incumbent in legislature race

Chester — In an upset victory, Democrat Noel Spencer held on to his narrow lead after all the paper ballots were counted to win against Republican legislator Dimitrios Lambros. Lambros, the incumbent in District 8, won Chester, according to Susan Bahren, the Democratic County Elections Commissioner. But Spencer did very well in areas of Warwick that she said include the housing developments of Wickham Village and Kings Estates. District 8 includes the bulk of the towns of Chester and Tuxedo, with small pieces of Warwick and Monroe. Bahren said Spencer’s aggressive campaigning “helped his ability to get voters in two new Warwick districts.” After all the absentee and other paper ballots were counted, Spencer led by 32 votes, only a handful fewer than the 37-vote lead he had after the machine count on Election Day. This isn’t unusual, said Bahren. The paper vote count often goes the way of the machine count, she said. Bahren and her Republican counterpart, Commissioner David Green, are checking into complaints from the Lambros campaign about Spencer campaigning at the Camp La Guardia homeless shelter. The campaign has questioned the residency of registered voters at the shelter. The commissioners will check to see if the 35 Camp residents registered to vote in Orange County were not also registered to vote in New York City. But, Bahren said, none of those 35 men actually voted in this year’s elections. Another complaint, that a Camp La Guardia resident was handing out campaign literature too close to polling places on Election Day, was not related to Spencer’s campaign but to campaigning by some members of the Hasidic community of Kiryas Joel on behalf of candidates running for Monroe Town Board, Bahren said. Spencer is a Town of Chester councilman whose seat expires in 2007. The town board will make an appointment to fill his vacant seat when he moves on to the legislature on Jan. 1. Chester Councilwoman Margaret Grumbach said that when such a vacancy occurred in past years, the board accepted applications for the temporary seat. The appointee will serve through 2006 and must face the voters next Election Day if he or she wishes to stay on the board until the term expires at the end of 2007. In November 2007, there will be an election for the four-year seat. Grumbach, a Republican, said she gets along well with Spencer and that he worked very hard in the race. Bahren, who is also the Village of Chester mayor, echoed that sentiment. Spencer himself used the word “aggressive” when describing his successful campaign style. He said that he was knocking on doors at apartment complexes late at night in order to reach commuters unavailable at other times. On the eve of the Election, he said he was out until midnight. “Overall, the people saw a marked difference between what I have done for the town and what my opponent did for the county,” Spencer said. “He really did not offer the county anything. “People know that I take my responsibilities seriously,” he continued. “That I know it’s an honor to serve the people. That I will not put party above people.” The questions he was asked most often while going door to door were, “What is the county legislature?” and “What will you be able to do for me?” He said he replied, “What would you like for me to do for you?” Water is a concern in Warwick, which has two hamlets to take care of, he said. The residents of Wickham Village have told him they feel forgotten. And Kings Estate is encountering “fierce problems” in its homeowners’ association.