Grafton Democrats Choose Slate

by Alex Brooks
The Grafton Town Democratic Party held its caucus on Monday, August 1, and elected a full slate of candidates. Ray Darling will be the Party’s candidate for Town Supervisor, incumbent Barbara Messenger and Rick Ungaro the candidates for Town Council. Frank Higgins is the candidate for Town Justice.
Town Clerk Sue Putnam and Tax Collector Mary Gentner were endorsed for re-election, and they will be cross-endorsed by the Town Republican Party. The Democratic caucus backed incumbent Republican Highway Superintendent Herb Hasbrouck for re-election.
Two of the positions were contested. Frank Higgins outpolled Pat Ivory for the Town Justice nomination by a comfortable margin, and Rick Ungaro got the nod over Jan Shields for the Town Council nomination by a margin of two votes.
Forty-four people attended the Caucus, according to Democratic Committee member Bill Middleton. About thirty of them were registered Democrats who actually participated. This is a larger turnout than has been seen in recent years. Middleton and others who attended the caucus seemed energized and optimistic about the upcoming election.