Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Merrigan wins 8th District of Governor's Council

Greenfield attorney Thomas T. Merrigan's apparent victory in a three-way race for the local Governor's Council seat highlighted races around the region Tuesday night.

Merrigan, who in September edged out incumbent Peter Vickery of Amherst in the Democratic primary, defeated unenrolled Springfield attorney Michael Kogut and Republican Michael Franco, a Holyoke veteran's agent, for the two-year Eighth District seat.

"The governor has ignored western Massachusetts, and people understood that that was the message of my candidacy," said Merrigan, who served as presiding judge of Orange District Court for 10 years before stepping down in 2002. "I take it that people feel strongly that we need a better voice in Boston to meet our needs in the courts in western Massachusetts."

November 08, 2006 at 12:23 AM, The Recorder