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SPENCER – One of Spencer’s state representatives will face off against his Gardner colleague in the House in a bid to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Anne M. Gobi
Voters across the large Worcester and Hampshire Senate District seemingly trickled out on Tuesday to cast ballots in the Republican primary which pitted Peter Durant, R-Spencer, against Bruce Chester, R-Gardner.
Jonathan D. Zlotnik of Gardner, a state Representative since 2013, was the lone candidate on the Democratic ballot.
Durant said he declared victory at around 10 p.m. after it became statistically impossible for Chester to make up the votes he’d need to win the race. Chester called Durant to concede a short time later.
Unofficial tallies show Durant garnering 2,828 votes (60.5 percent) to Chester’s 1,840 (39.4 percent. The turnout totalled fewer than 4,700 voters.
Durant and Zlotnik now await the Nov. 7 election. Both men hope to replace Gobi who left for a position as director of rural affairs under Gov. Maura Healey.
The Worcester and Hampshire Senate District includes Barre, Brookfield, East Brookfield, Gardner, Hardwick, Holden, Hubbardston, Leicester, New Braintree, North Brookfield, Oakham, Paxton, Phillipston, Princeton, Rutland, Spencer, Sterling, Templeton, Ware, West Brookfield, Westminster, and Ward 7 Precincts 2, 4, 5, 6 and Ward 9 Precincts 3, 4 in Worcester.
The Spencer Journal and Spencer Cable Access will feature interviews with the two candidates in the coming weeks.
