Sam Bungey
Timothy Madden of Nantucket claimed the Cape and Islands state representative seat on Tuesday, beating out two Vineyard contenders and a Falmouth hopeful by some 2,000 votes district-wide.
And according to Eric T. Turkington, Mr. Madden is taking a difficult job at the state house.
“It’s a trying time,” said Mr. Turkington, who will vacate the position in January after 20 years in the job. Mr. Turkington did not seek reelection.
Town finance committees, mindful of a coming recession, have called for zero per cent increases in Island school budgets, leaving educators braced for another dramatic budget season of instructional and programing cuts.
A $3.5 million superintendent’s shared services budget, approved 10 to 1 by the All-Island school committee on Oct. 29, reflects a range of cuts made by superintendent of schools Dr. James H. Weiss.
Noting the porch light left on as he approaches, Vineyarder for Obama Chris Fried chipperly predicts, “These people left early this morning.” He knocks on the door anyway and waits. No answer. He wedges some Democratic leaflets into a crack in the door — the law prohibits him from using the mailbox — and troops back to the car.
It’s Saturday afternoon in Hampton, N. H., and no one is home.
Melissa Freitag pitches herself as the all-rounder candidate.
“I have the strongest professional, educational and strongest contribution to local government as a package,” she said, adding:
“I have a history of public service, and not on a per-hour stipend. I’m not doing this for my own health. One thing I teach is that the state exists at the will of the people and it can’t function without the volunteerism of the people.”
She emphasizes her educational qualifications.
Jacob Ferreira is the only unenrolled candidate who will stay that way if he is elected.
“I entered this race without a party,” he said. “When I first registered to vote as an 18-year-old, I took that moment very seriously. I thought about at the time if I wanted to enroll with a party, and I couldn’t think of many things a party had done for my community, my family or myself.
Tim Madden is tired of the negativity he has detected in parts of the race for state representative.
“If everyone had been running a positive campaign it would be fun, I feel like there’s been a bit of negativity,” he said, “I’ve been painted as a Republican.”
Mr. Madden is an unenrolled candidate who finished second behind Dan Larkosh as a write-in candidate in the Democratic primary.
Still, he soon zeroed in on what he sees as a key weakness in one opponent’s position on the Steamship Authority.