BERNE—The incumbent supervisor in Berne, Kevin Crosier, won a second term despite very vocal opposition and running on the Republican line in a town where Democrats outnumber Republicans, two to one.

In Tuesday’s election, Supervisor Kevin Crosier, a registered Democrat running on the Republican line, defeated his Democratic challenger, Councilman James Hamilton, 655 to 546, or 54 to 46 percent, according to unofficial results from the Albany County Board of Elections.
"I think being reelected means that people have the trust in me to lead the town as best as I can for another four years," Crosier said from his office in Town Hall Wednesday afternoon. "I will do that and I will work hard to do that."

Crosier said the campaign was hard work, but he was glad to be able to meet with those in households throughout Berne, many of whom invited him in to discuss the town or just to get out of the cold, he said.
"That’s the type of community the town of Berne is," Crosier said. "The theme that I kept hearing over and over again is that Berne is a great community and that people have a very deep love of the land and they want to preserve our rural character if we can."

Open-space preservation and the revitalization of Berne’s rural economy have been Crosier’s two main interests in office and in his campaign. As supervisor, he pushed for a plan that rezoned the hamlet of Berne from largely residential to traditional-neighborhood mixed-use. The plan was opposed vocally by some hamlet residents. The town board passed the plan, 3 to 2, in January, but Crosier’s opponent, Hamilton, voted against it, citing the inclusion of gas stations in the hamlet zoning.

Crosier said Wednesday that Berne’s economy is going to strengthen under his administration.
"We are going to have a strong and confident return of our town’s economy," he said.

Crosier responded to what some have called a smear campaign against him. Flyers were distributed around town that made allegations against not only Crosier, but his wife and daughter, Crosier said.
"The people who were writing those nasty letters were the people who were the divisive ones," Crosier said. "I simply say to those people, ‘If you want a nice community, stop writing those nasty letters.’...It’s not what we’re about in the town of Berne."

Speaking from his home Wednesday, Hamilton said he had been prepared for the election to turn out either way.
"I feel confident," Hamilton said. "I think I did well against an incumbent who is a life-long resident of the town."

Hamilton said he is ready to get back to work with Crosier on the town board.
"When Kevin and I have had disagreements, we’ve always worked them out together," Hamilton said. "This was nothing personal. There was a position open and I thought I’d try for it."

Hamilton’s first complete term on the town board ends in two years.

Town board and other offices

There were no surprises in other Berne elections. In the race for two town board seats, the Democrats won easily. Incumbent Councilman Joseph Golden Jr. received 732 votes and newcomer Wayne Emory received 590. The Republican candidates, Rudolph Stempel and Mary Overbaugh, received 485 and 404 votes, respectively.

In unopposed races, Patricia Favreau received 960 votes for town clerk, Raymond Storm received 855 votes for highway superintendent, Robert Motschmann IV received 878 votes for assessor, and Gerald O’Malley received 955 votes for tax collector. All the unopposed candidates are incumbent Democrats.