Primary snapshot

On this rainy primary day, voters are still turning out.
Both of the dueling mayoral candidates are busy trying to round up as many voters as possible and each of them is optimistic about the outcome when the results are tallied after 8 p.m. tonight.
Democratic mayoral nominee Ellen Zoppo said she is “chained to the kitchen table” at the moment while she calls voters identified as favorable to her to make sure they get to the polls.
“It seems that a lot of the people I’m calling have already gone” to vote, she said, because they wanted to beat even worse weather forecast for later in the day.
Challenger Art Ward said what he’s been hearing is “very encouraging so far” because voters “all seem to be positive.”
Both campaigns say they expect a relatively close contest, with the most optimistic on each side guessing no more than a 55-45 margin at the end of the day.
Ward said that as of 10 a.m., about 1,200 Democrats had voted, a little less than 10 percent of the total number registered in town.
He said that was “relatively good,” especially considering the rain.
Zoppo said that turnout was strong this morning but she’s heard it has tailed off somewhat, lagging a bit behind the numbers posted for the same times during the 2003 mayoral primary where Gerard Couture defeated Joe Wilson.
Ward said that at best perhaps 35 percent of the registered Democrats will turn out today.

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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com