Pray, D'Angelo Win Amherst Selectmen Seats

AMHERST, NH — More than 2,000 Amherst residents went to the polls on Tuesday and approved school and town budgets, and elected a number of new political representatives.

In the Board of Selectmen's race, Danielle Pray topped the ticket with 1,340 votes, according to unofficial returns, while John D'Angelo won the second seat with 1,226 votes. Raymond Kong came in third with 889 votes.

In the zoning board race, Douglas Kirkwood won a seat with 1,078 votes while Tracy Lee McInnis won the second seat with 888 votes. Timothy Kachmar came in third with 770 votes.

In 2021, there were three competitive planning board races.

Two candidates won two three-year seats: William Stoughton, with 1,211 votes, and Christopher Yates with 1,135 votes. Craig Urquhart came in third with 387 votes.

Thomas Quinn and Arnold Rosenblatt won two two-year seats on the board with 1,025 and 900 votes respectively. Thomas Silva, Peter Hansen, and Robert Kula trailed the top two in unofficial results.

In the third race, Tracie Adams topped the ticket with 1,254 votes while Christy Houpis came in second with 1,121 votes. Eugene Anctil came in third with 400 votes.

Elizabeth Overholt was elected town treasurer; Lisa Eastland was elected cemetery trustee; Nancy Baker and Michael Enriquez were elected as library trustees; and Lori Mix was elected to the trustee of the trust funds in uncontested races.

Voters approved an open space acquisition bond valued at $6 million by a more than two-to-one margin, reaching the 3/5ths vote needed for approval.

Town voters also approved a nearly $14.9 million budget along with 10 other warrant articles including money for reserve fund transfers; $257,000 for a new fire rescue vehicle and $120,000 for DPW vehicles; $200,000 to complete the police station renovation; and a nonbinding vote calling for fair nonpartisan redistricting.

In the school board races, Victoria Parisi easily bested Jason White for the district seat by more than two and a half to one margin while John Glover received 1,251 votes and Tony LaBranche won 745 votes for the regional cooperative seat.

Voters approved of a $30.4 million district school budget by 170 votes. They also approved a five-year tuition agreement with the Mont Vernon School District by a six-to-one margin. A lease agreement and a $500,000 capital facilities trust fund transfer were easily approved.

Amherst voters approved the regional cooperative school budget by only 35 votes while transfer fund articles were easily approved.

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