Adam Boudreau, Owen Littlefield win open seats on town board
by Dan McClelland
In the only contested race in the Town of Tupper Lake in last Tuesday’s election, the two Republican challengers, Adam Boudreau and Owen Littlefield, ousted incumbent Councilman John Gillis.
Mr. Boudreau, co-owner of Kentile Excavating, topped the polls that day in that race with 847 votes of 39.1% of the 1,231 votes cast. Adam was running on both the GOP and Conservative Party lines.
Mr. Boudreau received 713 votes on the GOP line and 134 on the Conservative line.
His running mate, Owen Littlefield, co-owner and co-founder of Leifheit and Littlefield surveying firm, garnered 786 votes or 36.3% of the votes tallied.
Mr. Littlefield won 654 of his votes on the Republican line and the balance of 132 on the Conservative one.
In Tupper Lake in that race there were 288 undervotes, eight over votes and 22 double votes., according to the unofficial count from the county’s board of elections office.
John Gillis, another businessman and a skilled cabinetmaker, lost the seat at the board table that he has held for the past four years. The Democrat Party candidate received 530 votes or 24.47% of all the votes cast.
There were three write-in votes in that contest.
Absent from the board table too in 2026 will be Councilman Rick Donah, who opted not to seek re-election to another four year term this time.
Supervisor Rickey Dattola, running unopposed in his re-election bid for a second four-year term garnered a huge vote count Tuesday: 958 votes or 99.27% of the votes cast in the supervisor’s election. Mr. Dattola, a past chairman of the Tupper Lake Conservative Party, won 196 votes on his party’s line and 762 votes on the Republican line, after winning that party’s nomination at the party caucus earlier this summer.
That race also saw seven write-in votes to bring the total votes cast to 965 or 100%.
In the nearby town of Santa Clara, a three-way for two seats on the town council, was won by Alexandria Lexi Bevilacqua, a Republican with 96 or 41% of the votes cast in that township, and Marcel Mickey Webb, the other Republican on the ballot with 61 or 26% of the votes cast. Missing out on joining the town board by 14 votes was an independent candidate, Tyler Ellithorpe. There were four write-in votes in that contest which attracted 236 votes.
In the uncontested race for a new town supervisor, Santa Clara voters gave Republican Curtis Reynolds 100 votes to secure the win.
Richard Azar, longstanding county coroner and also running unopposed this time on the Democrat line, easily won another term as one of several county coroners, with 7,309 votes or 94% of the votes cast. There was 469 write-in votes in that contest.
County Legislator Nedd Sparks won a big endorsement of the job he’s doing in his first re-election bid, receiving 1,291 votes or 99.54% of the vote count.
On the Republican line, the District 6 lawmaker received 1,005 votes. He added another 286 on the Conservative Party line. There were six write-in votes in that contest.
In the village Tuesday there were no contests.
In her first re-election bid for another two-year term as mayor, Businesswoman Mary Fontana also received a solid endorsement from village voters who gave her 522 or 99.05% of the 527 votes cast (five were write-ins). On the Republican Party line the mayor won 424 votes and on the Conservative line, she garnered 98.
In the contest to seat two new village trustees, there was no contest. Newcomer Brasen LaVassaur won the most votes with 449 (51.97%) and his GOP running mate, David Plummer, also in his first try at village office, received 413 votes (47.8%).
The two new trustees will replace two veteran trustees, Leon LeBlanc, who did not seek re-election due to health reasons, and David “Haji” Maroun, who was defeated by Mr. LaVassaur and Mr. Plummer at the Republican Party caucus early this summer.
Justice Leonard Young III, whose name appeared again on both the GOP and Conservative parties’ lines, secured all but one of the votes cast this time, with 560 votes (443, GOP and 117 Conservative).
This coming year will be the last one that Judge Young or anyone will serve as village justice, as the village board has abolished the position, in favor of a single town court system. In order for the village board to abolish the judgeship, however, it had to continue it for one more year, according to state election law.
This year too Justice Young will also continue his term as town justice.
Across the county the clear majority of voters (6,830 or 66.73%) of them voted in favor of Proposition No. 1 this time which asked state voters if ORDA could continue to use trails and other facilities on state forest preserve land, which it has been doing for years. In this county 3,406 voters voted against the state-wide proposition, which passed.
In Tupper Lake the question passed 316 to 155.
Of the 4.2 million New York residents who answered the ballot question about 46% supported it, 42% opposed it and the remaining 12% of a half million voters just skipped it.
In two races that were both uncontested County Clerk Kip Cassavaw (Democrat, Conservative) and Democrat Candidate Frances Perry, county treasurer will both continue in their county jobs for another term. Mr. Cassavaw secured 8,307 votes across the county, of which 783 came from Tupper Lake. Ms. Perry won 7,504 votes from voters county-wide and 696 votes here.