11/07/07 - Legislature control hinges on Homer race
Dafoe has 7-vote margin; Dems hold 10 seats, Repubs nine.
Whether Republicans or Democrats will lead the Legislature is in question, and the answer hinges on one race in Homer between incumbent Democrat Steve Dafoe and Republican James Miller in District 11.
If Miller wins, there would be 10 Republicans and nine Democrats. There are 11 Democrats and eight Republicans on the current Legislature.
When partial results Tuesday put Miller nine votes ahead of Dafoe, Miller and his wife, Debbie Butler-Miller, were full of excitement and relief.
“Every time the screen changed I looked away,” Miller said. “Finally (my wife) grabbed my back and said ‘You’re winning.’”
But minutes later more votes came in, putting Miller behind Dafoe by seven votes, 210-203.
“I’m only down by seven, it’s still pretty close,” Miller said Tuesday night. “I need 23 absentee ballots to win, and it can’t be a tie.”
At least 40 absentee ballots were sent out in this district.
Dafoe could not be reached for comment this morning.
Two key races among city legislators went to the Republicans. In Legislative District 2, Anthony Piombo beat Democrat Ric Van Donsel. Democrat Sean Clark currently holds the seat. Piombo, a Democrat ran on the Republican ticket. The unofficial vote tally was 223-185.
Piombo said this morning he was shocked that he won his race against Van Donsel, because he is a newcomer to politics and Van Donsel was a good candidate.
“Ric was a good opponent, and he ran a great campaign,” he said.
Piombo said his top priority as legislator will be addressing flooding problems in the 2nd Ward. When he campaigned door to door he could tell that was a huge problem, he said.
“We’ve got to figure out where the problem starts and we’ve got to fix it,” he said. “No one wants to move.”
In Legislative District 5, Republican Kathie Wilcox, of 62 Church St., ousted Democrat Ron Van Dee, of 7 Taylor St., with the vote standing at 170-155.
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