Gray beats Edwards in town of Massena

MASSENA — Town Supervisor W. Gary Edwards will not be getting the four more years in office he was hoping for.

The incumbent was defeated Tuesday by Republican Joseph D. Gray by a wide margin.

At midnight, the county Board of Elections showed Mr. Gray with 1,152 votes and Mr. Edwards with 759 votes, with 11 of 14 districts reporting.

After meeting with Mr. Edwards at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post, where Republican supporters had gathered to congratulate the new town supervisor, Mr. Gray said his first order of business would be to meet Mr. Edwards again to talk about the future of the town.

"The supervisor has graciously agreed to meet with me to bring me up to speed on a number of issues," Mr. Gray said.

After that, he said, it would be a matter of setting priorities as a community.

"I'm going to ask the community to help me. I want to sit down with the community because I want the community involved. I think people will respond to that," the supervisor-elect said.

The mood at the Democratic headquarters at the Italian-American Club on Beach Street was mixed, with Democrats reeling from the defeat in the town supervisor race but celebrating a handy victory by Town Councilmen Charles A. Raiti and Albert N. Nicola over independent challenger Donald J. Lucas.

Shortly before midnight, the Board of Elections Web site showed Mr. Raiti with 1,373 votes, Mr. Nicola with 1,304 and Mr. Lucas with 566, with 11 of 14 precincts reporting.

Massena Democratic Committee Chairman Gerry Soulia thanked Mr. Edwards for his dedication and service. Mr. Raiti and Mr. Nicola both thanked the supervisor for playing a crucial role in establishing the St. Lawrence River Valley Redevelopment Agency, a new body crated to help handle the 20 megawatts of hydropower and $16 million from the New York Power Authority.

"Gary, I commend you for your stick-to-itiveness," Mr. Raiti said during a speech to the gathered Democrats. "You worked really hard on that RVRDA, and I thank you for that. It's going to be a great thing when it gets going."

The 70-year-old supervisor has said this election would serve as a report card on the past four years in office. Although he lost, Mr. Edwards said, he does not feel like he failed.

"I loved the past four years," he said. "I would love to have four more, but the people said no and I totally respect that. I really did not fail."

Both Town Council members re-elected last night said they look forward to putting aside partisanship to work with Mr. Gray, who will serve as a Republican supervisor with a solid Democratic board.

"We're Democrats today and he's a Republican, but when the election is over, we have a responsibility to do the best we can for Massena," Mr. Raiti said. "That's what the community expects and that's what we will do."

Johnson Newspapers writer Bob Beckstead contributed to this report.