Peter Durant, of Spencer, defeated Democratic incumbent Geraldo Alicea of Charlton in a rematch of last fall’s race that was ruled a tie.
BOSTON – Republicans picked up another seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives on Tuesday as Republican Peter Durant of Spencer defeated Democratic incumbent Geraldo Alicea of Charlton in a rematch of last November’s race that was ruled a tie following recount.
In another special House election, Democrats retained a seat as John Lawn of Watertown defeated James Dixon of Waltham to fill the vacancy that resulted when former Rep. Peter Koutoujian was named sheriff of Middlesex County.
Unofficial returns from the 6th Worcester District showed another close race, with Durant prevailing by a margin of 3,325 votes to 3,269 for Alicea. Two independent candidates were also on the special election ballot, with Peter Boria picking up 1,275 votes and Robert Cirba 71 votes.
Durant’s victory brings to 32 the number of seats held by Republicans in the 160-member House. While Democrats still hold a strong majority, the GOP has more than doubled its ranks in the chamber since a year ago.
Durant led Alicea by four votes after the November balloting. Alicea picked up three votes during a recount in the town of Sturbridge, and a judge later awarded a disputed absentee ballot to the Democrat, tying the vote at 6,587 apiece and forcing the special election.
Durant told the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester after Tuesday’s vote that he was glad the lengthy process had finally reached a conclusion.
“I think we move on to the next phase now, which is getting down to work,” he said.
Observers from the U.S. Justice Department were at polling places in Southbridge to make sure there were no voting irregularalites, the newspaper reported.
In the 10th Middlesex District, Lawn, a Watertown town councilor, defeated Dixon by a better than 2-1 margin in Tuesday’s special election. The district includes portions of Watertown, Waltham and Newton.
Koutoujian was appointed Middlesex County sheriff by Gov. Deval L. Patrick to replace James DiPaola, who committed suicide last year.