Dan Allie thanks his supporters as he concedes defeat in his attempt to win the 4th Hampden seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
WESTFIELD – John C. Velis took a second decisive victory this year to keep the state House of Representative seat for a full two-year term he initially claimed with a special election victory last March.
Velis faced the same opponent in this election, Dan Allie, but his margin of victory was more substantial. Last March in the special election Velis won by 300 votes, in this election for a two-year term his margin of victory was more than 2,200.
Dan Allie (second from right) reviews the numbers with supporters Peter Fedora, Mark Butler and Vincent Barre as he watches the returns with supporters at East Mountain Country Club. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
That margin of victory may reflect the fact that 52.64 of Westfield registered voters cast ballots in this election which not only had state and federal position, but a number of hotly contested referendum questions.
Velis said the election victory validates his pledge to Westfield residents that his first concern is issues impacting city resident, not politics.
“I think the results show that the people of Westfield want to elect people who are concerned about representing them,” Velis said. “The people of Westfield said today they agree with my political philosophy.”
Dan Allie, left, chats with supporters Jennifer Sullivan-Brunault, James Brunault, and Bill Schneeloch, the chair of the Westfield Republican city committee, as they wait for returns last night at East Mountain Country Club. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
“I made a pledge in the special election not to put political party focus before what is in the best interest of Westfield,” said Velis. “My voting record shows that I am one of, if not the most, independent representative in the state.”
“Over the next two years I will continue to be an independent voice, continue to make Westfield the best city in the state,” Velis said. “I represent 40,000 plus people, so every vote I take, I represent them and that’s what I will continue to do.”
“I never ran against Dan Allie. I ran for Westfield,” Velis said. “What I did is run a positive campaign based on what I can do to represent the people of Westfield. I think people are disgusted with the partisan two-party system.”
Velis outpolled Allie in all 12 precincts of the city. Velis collected 7,323 ballots to Allie’s 5,106, in unofficial results released by City Clerk Karen Fanion. Velis was strongly supported in both precincts of Ward 2 and Ward 5, as well as precincts 4-B and 6-B.
Velis and his supporters gathered at The Tavern to celebrate his victory shortly after 9 p.m. when the final unofficial results were posted.
Following the defeat, Allie reflected on the past year and two campaigns.
“We certainly connected with people on issues,” said Allie, referencing the two non-binding local questions he helped place on the ballot.
“The questions we ran won 4 to 1 with not a lot of coverage,” Allie said. “The issues I’ve raised, especially in the Channel 22 debate, when John said he would introduce legislation (per the local questions). That’s huge. We just need government that’s responsive to the people.”
When asked what lies ahead, Allie stated that he is excited Question 1 passed on the statewide ballot, an initiative to repeal the state’s automatic gas tax which he helped collect thousands of signatures for, as well as continuing his work on the city council.
“It might be possible that we set a tax rate as low as zero (this year),” he said. “That’s never happened before.”
