Victory Goes To Bob O'Brien
HARTWICK - Bob O’Brien, the father of triplets, is used to surprises.
Still, when Hartwick’s surprise-rich election year ended Tuesday, Nov. 10, you can understand why the Hartwick town supervisor-elect declared, “Thank God it’s over.”
O’Brien learned that day that, 233 to 229, he had defeated two-term incumbent (and longtime Town Board member) David Butler after months of campaigning, legal challenges and political infighting to claim the top office in Otsego County’s fastest-growing town. A third candidate, Hartwick Town Board member Juli Sharratt, tallied 151.
O’Brien’s whole enterprise was a handful of votes away from disaster at every step.
It began over the summer, when O’Brien, the Hartwick hamlet fire chief for the past five years, won the endorsement from the Republican Town Committee over incumbent Butler.
That led to a Republican primary on Sept. 10, where he inched past Butler, 50 votes to 49, too close to call.