GOP Ticket Thanks Supporters After Democrat Concedes

Re-elected Madison Councilman Robert Catalanello and Councilman-elect Patrick Rowe thanked supporters in a statement Thursday after learning candidate Maureen Byrne was opting not to petition for a recount.

Seventeen votes apparently were all that separated Rowe, a Republican, and Byrne, a Democrat.

Rowe, the outgoing Board of Education vice president, received 2,095 votes while Byrne, a member of the Downtown Development Commission and chairman of the Friends of the Madison Public Library, received 2,078 votes

Byrne called Rowe Thursday to concede, Madison Democratic Committee Chairman Thomas Honohan said. He previously said Democrats planned to request a recount of mail-in ballots, and then said they were reconsidering.

The margin between Rowe and Byrne initially was 45 votes based on preliminary election night results, but that narrowed to 14 votes when mail-in ballots were tallied. Provisional ballots counted Tuesday extended Rowe's lead to 17 votes.

"First, we’d like to thank all the candidates that ran for council this year," Rowe said in an email. "Between the primary and the general election, voters in Madison had a wealth of choices and we should be proud that so many people are willing to serve our community.

"Second, we want to thank all the voters in Madison that put their trust in us during this historic election. We believe they responded to our campaign, which was positive, focused on the issues and provided real solutions to the challenges we face. Over the next three years we commit to work tirelessly to maintain the trust the voters bestowed on us in this election.

"Finally, we would like to give special thanks to Jerry Stevenson, Sam DeMarzo, Ed Rebholz, Brenda Catalanello, Paul Daly, Martin Barbato, and Jeannie Tsukamoto for their work during the entire campaign, from the primary through the general election. We would also like to thank Nino Coviello, Brian Agnew, Chris Conroy, Marty Horn, Nick Spagnoletti, Dave Carver, Carmen Pico and all the members of the Madison Republican Committee, without whose support and assistance we could not have achieved this result."

Byrne ran with Jeffrey Gertler, an 11-year member of the Planning Board and six-year member of the Environmental Commission.

All four candidates received more than 2,000 votes.

Former Councilman Sam Cerciello also appeared on the ballot as an independent and received more than 400 votes. Results still need to be certified.

Unofficial results

DEM - Maureen M. Byrne 2,078 votes

DEM - Jeffrey J. Gertler 2,020 votes

REP - Patrick W. Rowe 2,095 votes

REP - Robert G. Catalanello 2,144 votes

IND - Sebastian "Sam" Cerciello 420 votes