Thorpe defeats Punderson for selectman

Date: 4/11/2013

By Chris Maza

chrism@thereminder.com

EAST LONGMEADOW — Angela Thorpe finally got the best of Peter Punderson.

Capping what has been a series of close elections between the two, Thorpe defeated Punderson, who was seeking re-election after completing the remainder of former Selectman James Driscoll's term, by 84 votes to capture a three-year seat on the Board of Selectmen.

"I am very excited," Thorpe said. "I'm ready to get to work. I feel like I've been revving my engine for a little while to get back to work for East Longmeadow."

Thorpe garnered 1,054 votes, while 970 people favored Punderson.

Thorpe, a former member of the School Committee, had been unsuccessful in her two prior bids for a seat on the board.

Most recently, she finished behind Punderson in three local elections.

Punderson garnered the most votes in the Nov. 20, 2012 special preliminary election for the remainder of Driscoll's term while Thorpe came in second, setting up an extremely close special election on Dec. 12, 2012 in which Punderson eked out a victory by 12 votes. With the close results, Thorpe requested a recount, which confirmed Punderson's victory.

The results of the 2013 preliminary prior to the April 9 town election again pitted Punderson and Thorpe against each other with the incumbent besting Thorpe by a mere 28 votes.

After hearing the results of the election, Punderson quickly congratulated Thorpe, then abruptly left the Birchland Park Middle School gymnasium.

"I want to thank Pete Punderson," she said. "He didn't give it a dull race. It was a good race."

Thorpe also fell short in her bid to supplant Board of Selectmen Chair Paul Federici in the April 10, 2012 election when she ran races for selectman and School Committee concurrently.

Thorpe said she felt the difference between her recent setbacks on Election Day and the results this time around was voter turnout.

"What do I think the difference was? I think people came out and voted," she said.

A total of 2,045 of the town's 11,205 registered voters, or 18.3 percent, came to the polls on a sunny spring day that featured temperatures around 70 degrees.

Prior to the election, Town Clerk Thomas Florence projected a turnout of between 17 and 20 percent.

Thorpe said she felt the turnout was a positive sign for the community's involvement in local government and encouraged the public to continue to include themselves in town decision-making.

"I would really encourage the residents to continue to stay active," she said. "I am so pleased that some residents brought their children because if they see it, they'll learn it and we'll build a community to the next level here."

Thorpe expressed her excitement in having the opportunity to dive right in as the Board of Selectmen had a scheduled meeting on April 10.

"I've been going to the meetings anyway so if this should come to pass, I would be ready to step in," she said. "I know we're in the budget process."

In the only other contested race, John Maybury was re-elected to the Board of Public Works over Thomas O'Brien by a count of 1074-872.