NEWS
Supervisor Rematch in Town of Richmondville, Bennetts Third Run
RICHMONDVILLE - While the candidacies and dynamics of many Town Supervisor races have changed since 2011, in one town not only have the issues pretty much remained the same but the candidates are squaring off for their second consecutive bout against each other and for the challenger - his third straight run.
I am talking of course about the Town of Richmondville Supervisors election this fall between incumbent Republican Richard "Dick" Lape and Democrat challenger Scott Bennett, who previously served on the Town Board and is involved in local community groups such as RVES.
They first squared off two years ago when Lape won a lopsided 417-165 victory to claim the top job for himself after being appointed to the position following longtime Town Councilman and two term Supervisor John Barlow's resignation that spring due to health issues that eventually claimed his life.
But it wasn't always lopsided against Mr. Bennett, who fought in a tightly contested race between himself and Mr. Barlow in 2009 and lost by a single vote (346-345) in an election cycle that saw four races decided by 50 votes or less, although Mr. Bennett's one-vote defeat has to sting the most.
With Richmondville traditionally one of the hardest electorates to gauge, any prediction or guess as to who's leading or has the best odds of winning are rather foolhardy, although based on past results I would give a slight advantage to Mr. Lape due to his incumbency and popularity without counting out Mr. Bennett, who knows how to make an election unbelievably close and nerve wracking.