Harrison Thorp
Wednesday, November 6, 2013 9:11 am
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ROCHESTER - Incumbent Mayor T.J. Jean, who asked voters to keep a winning team intact, got his wish last night with a resounding victory over spirited challenger Fred Leonard and Dennis R. Hancock.
Jean got his third straight mayoral stint by defeating Leonard handily in every city ward, finishing with 2,481 votes to Leonard’s 790. Hancock finished a distant third with 130 votes.
In other heavily contested races, incumbent City Councilor A. Raymond Varney Jr. retained his Ward 1 seat over Ted Kaczynski Jr., 361-252; and Sandra Keans held on to defeat challenger Dave Cope for her Ward 2 seat, 415-337.
In other races Donald J. Hamann defeated Chuck Grassie for a Ward 4 City Council seat, 327-223.
On the School Board side in a heavily contested race, Karen Stokes defeated Doris Gates for a Ward 5 seat, 271-193.
In the at-large School Board race, it was Kathy Dutton over Annie Grassie, 1,842-1,397
On the Police Commission, Derek Peters won Wards 1 and 2, Lucien Levesque took Wards 3 and 4, and Bruce Lindsay claimed Wards 5 and 6.
Many incumbents ran unopposed.
Leonard said today he was happy with the race he ran, but dissapointed with his weak showing.
“I either had the wrong message or was the wrong messenger,” he said. “I don’t know. But I wouldn’t change a thing I did. I think it was a strong performance.”
Leonard said in his opinion the town has changed in the 20 years he’s lived here.
“It’s a liberal town,” he said. “The federal government brings in a lot of money, and there are a lot of entitlements. I mean the city and the school department together employ more people than any private employer in town.”
Jean was unavailable for comment this morning.
In all, 3,451 Rochester residents cast ballots for a 19 percent voter turnout.