September 19, 2006 Pawtucket Times "Howitt, D'Amico get nods in 4th Bristol County district"
By: Donna Kenny Kirwan, For The Times


SEEKONK - Two guys named Steve from Seekonk will be squaring off in November for the State Representative 4th Bristol District seat held by veteran Democratic lawmaker Philip Travis of Rehoboth.
Unofficial results in the Republican race declared Seekonk native Steven S. Howitt as the winner over his challenger, Brian D. Langevin, who is also from Seekonk.
In the Democratic race, which featured four candidates, another Seekonk resident, Steven D'Amico was declared the winner. Throughout the night, he maintained a hefty lead in the district over his closest contender, John Whelan.
In Seekonk, Howitt, a former selectmen and two-term Planning Board member who lives on Pine Street, easily beat Langevin, a 22-year-old recent college graduate with an interest in politics, by a count of 250 to 80.
At Seekonk Town Hall where he was still awaiting the results from the rest of the district's precincts, an upbeat Howitt said he was pleased with his win, although he expressed regret that the Republican turn-out wasn't higher.
Howitt, who ran unsuccessfully against the longtime incumbent Travis in last year's primary, said that he would continue to "get the message out" -- one that he has labeled with the acronym TAB, which stands for Taxes, Accountability, Balance.
In his hometown, D'Amico, a sales account executive who is a well-known community activist, beat fellow Seekonk resident and incumbent selectman, John Whelan, by an almost two to one margin. Locally, D'Amico earned 905 votes to Whelan's 474.
D'Amico, who lives on Briarwood Drive, could not be reached for comment by press time.
Although he easily took his hometown of Swansea, Nicholas Bernier, a 21-year-old college student with political aspirations, was relegated to third place in Seekonk while another Swansea resident, selectman and Water District Superintendent Robert Marquis, came in fourth.
In Seekonk, Bernier earned 180 votes, while Marquis garnered 51 votes.
In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, Deval Patrick, making not only his first run for elective office but also a bid to become the state's first black governor, beat fellow Democrats Chris Gabrieli and Tom Reilly in Tuesday's gubernatorial primary.
Patrick's prize was a place in the general election campaign against Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, the Republican nominee, as well as independent candidate Christy Mihos and Grace Ross of the Green-Rainbow Party. The last Democrat to hold the governor's office was Michael S. Dukakis, whose term ended in 1991.
Patrick, 50, will be teamed up with Worcester Mayor Tim Murray, who won a three-way primary for the No. 2 spot as the party's nominee for lieutenant governor.
Gabrieli, a Boston venture capitalist who spent a record $8.4 million on his campaign, ran second, while Reilly, a veteran politician who has served eight years attorney general after eight more as Middlesex district attorney, finished third and suffered the first loss of his political career.
With 56 percent of the precincts reporting, Patrick had 48 percent, or 260,545 votes. Gabrieli was shown with 28 percent, or 154,236 votes, while Reilly trailed the pack with 23 percent, or 124,307 votes.
Both Reilly and Gabrieli conceded the race to Patrick, a former Clinton administration official, before 10 p.m.
For months, it was a close three-way race among the Democratic candidates. But in recent weeks, Patrick began to pull away. Still, his campaign manager had warned supporters throughout the day to avoid complacency.