Casino backer loses Middleborough vote

Finance Committee member Stephen McKinnon beat Steven Spataro, earning 1,022 votes. Spataro received 972 votes.

McKinnon said tensions and bitterness over the casino issue remain and that voters probably supported the candidate who they believed would bring more openness to the Board of Selectmen.

"I think there is still that wedge, to be perfectly honest," he said.

In 2007, town officials and the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe signed a deal for a billion-dollar casino resort on 539 acres that tribal leaders hoped to put into federal trust. The agreement infuriated many residents who felt the deal was made behind closed doors and without public input. The deal was eventually approved by residents during Town Meeting.

McKinnon said it is time to move on.

"In this town, we've been too focused on the casino," he said. "We need to look at the whole host of problems we face."

CasinoFacts, a group that opposes the casino, had published the slate of local candidates it endorsed on its website and yesterday urged residents to get out and vote for its picks, which included McKinnon.

"Today is the day to vote for change, transparency and a brighter future for Middleborough," the group declared on its website.

But one of its other choices, Greg Stevens, who sits on the group's board of directors, failed to win the one-year seat that became available after Selectman Adam Bond resigned in January. He lost to Alfred Rullo, who had not declared a position on the debate, and won 1,063 votes. Stevens picked up 990 votes.

In recent months, Stevens had tried to distance himself from his position on the casino, and told voters he was running to bring more transparency to the board and to allow residents more opportunities to present their ideas at public meetings.

He has described the selectmen's treatment of residents who disagreed with them as rude and dismissive.

At the height of the debate, Selectwoman Marsha Brunelle would bang her gavel down when residents dissented.

In the race for town moderator, former selectman Wayne Perkins ran against Ed Beaulieu, who is fairly new to the town.

Beaulieu also ran on a platform that promised more openness to residents, but Perkins beat him by a slim margin, picking up 1,047 votes. Beaulieu earned 1,004 votes.

In Arlington, voters also went to the polls, casting ballots in several races, including for the School Committee.

John W. Hurd and Clarissa Rowe, incumbents on the Board of Selectmen, faced no challengers and were reelected.

In the School Committee race, in which three candidates ran for two three-year terms, incumbent Jeffrey D. Thielman was reelected, earning 3,008 votes. Cindy Starks won the second spot with 3,454 votes, beating Joseph C. Tully, who had 2,528.

Globe correspondent John Guilfoil contributed to this report.