Lantigua wins recount over Devers
LAWRENCE - A recount in Lawrence City Hall yesterday confirmed Rep. William Lantigua as the Democratic candidate for the 16th Essex House race. Election officials said the two-term representative had 1,849 votes to 736 for his write-in challenger, Marcos Devers. A final tally is expected Monday, City Clerk William Maloney said.
Lantigua said he hoped the recount would end the controversy over the primary election.
"Maybe now he gets the message," he said, while a dozen campaign volunteers and lawyers finished the four-hour review of the 2,637 ballots under scrutiny.
But the recount is not the final chapter of their duel, which has been criticized by some in the Latino community as creating unnecessary division in the city.
After the totals were read, Devers, a math teacher and former city councilor, acknowledged his sticker campaign loss against the two-term incumbent, but also confirmed he will run as a write-in candidate again Nov. 7.
"My name is not going to appear on the ballot, but the people are now aware that we are not giving up," Devers said. "The battle is not over."
His name was kept off the Sept. 19 ballot after Lantigua questioned Devers' residency. The State Ballot Law Commission ruled that Devers could not appear on the ballot because he didn't live in the district a year before the election, as required by state law. Once he was declared ineligible to be on the ballot, Devers announced he would campaign as a write-in, or sticker candidate.
One other option remained for Devers yesterday: If he had gotten 150 votes on the Republican ballots, his name would have been posted on that ballot during the final election. But he didn't reach that threshold. Even before knowing the result, Devers said that wasn't his goal.
In the Sept. 19 primary, the tally was 1,865 to 716 in favor of Lantigua. Based on yesterday's results, Lantigua lost 16 votes while Devers picked up 20.
Former Lawrence mayor Leonard J. Degnan Jr. joined more than 20 Lantigua supporters at City Hall yesterday.
"If someone's name is on the ballot, the write-in candidate doesn't have a shot," Degnan said.
The recount began at 9:50 a.m., when 12 plastic containers with the ballots from the disputed 12 of 13 precincts were brought to the chamber.
Devers stood most of the time by the election officials, behind a wooden fence that divided him from the three tables where the ballots were being reviewed.
"This was a learning experience," Devers said. When asked why none of his supporters were present on the recount, he said he didn't want to distract from the process.
On the other side of that wooden fence, a smiling Lantigua walked around the tables and talked with his supporters and the press.
"This is a game," he said. "It's another opportunity for him to see that the people are not on his side."
Lantigua supporter Luis Martinez, a facility manager at the Lawrence YWCA, said he was disappointed by the battle between the two candidates.
"They are focused on competing, rather than thinking about the people," Martinez said. "If they worked together, we could have much more for the community."