Updated

Mickelson defeats last-minute write-in challenger

Jun 23, 2020

Dartmouth voters have spoken: Select Board Chair Stanley Mickelson will keep his seat after a narrow victory against last-minute write-in candidate Steve Burgo following Tuesday's annual town election.

Mickelson was re-elected to another term by a margin of 82 votes, winning 900, while Burgo won 818.

Burgo, who is president of the Burgo Basketball Association on Slocum Road, said he did not initially plan to run for office until he heard multiple complaints from residents and business owners about how they are treated by certain members of the Select Board.

“People put them in that office,” he said. “I hope that this makes my opponent wake up.”

While disappointed in the loss, Burgo said he was proud of how close he came after joining the race only four weeks ago.

“For four weeks time, I think we did a great job,” he said.

Mickelson said he felt the reason the election was so close because of low turnout brought by the pandemic and residents thinking the election was uncontested.

“It caught a lot of people by surprise,” he said. “This was not the norm.”

Mickelson plans to do the same the he’s always done, saying he will continue to represent the town of Dartmouth and listen to residents’ concerns.

All other races were uncontested.

Former DeMello PTO President Mary Waite won 1272 votes and will take over the seat of Carol Karafotis, who decided she would not seek re-election to the seat she’s held for the past six years. Meanwhile incumbent Kathleen Amaral won 1235 votes to secure a second term on the committee.

Due to the pandemic, the town encourage residents to vote early or absentee or to avoid crowding the polls.