Rick Dattola (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

TUPPER LAKE — Rickey Dattola appears to have won the race for Tupper Lake town supervisor, according to unofficial election night results, beating out current town Councilman John Gillis for the seat at the head of the council where Gillis will continue to have a seat.

Vote tallies — read aloud from long strips of paper printed from voting machines at the Holy Ghost Parish polling site, as well as early voting and absentee ballot votes uploaded to the Franklin County Board of Elections website — totaled to 1,073 votes for Dattola, who ran on the Conservative line, and 873 for Gillis, who ran on the Republican and Democrat lines — a difference of 200 votes, with Dattola taking 55% of the vote.

But the election cannot be verified until all absentee ballots are counted, too. Election night was the deadline for turning in or mailing ballots, and they must arrive before Nov. 15 to be counted. Only then can the results be certified.

Franklin County Republican election Commissioner Tracy Sparks said the county issued around 300 absentee ballots to Tupper Lake voters. A portion of those ballots were returned before Election Day and included in the vote tally on election night, due to a new state law.

Dattola, holding an election party at his Tupper Lake Supply business, said he felt good after hearing the vote totals. He said the election had been a “long, hard struggle.”

His first actions, he said, are to assemble the heads of the village and school boards to meet and talk before he’s sworn in after Jan. 1. He also said he wants to get together with the town board — the majority of town board members supported Gillis, he said, and he wanted to “mend fences” to work together.

He said he has no ill will toward his election opponent on his part, and hoped Gillis felt the same.

“He has his ideas of what’s best for Tupper and I have mine,” Dattola said. “That’s what elections are all about.”

“Happy either way,” Gillis said of the election. He added that there is “no question” the two would be able to work together well. They’ve done business together for years — they’re both in the woodworking industry.

Gillis will still remain on the board. The board has been operating down one councilmember this year. Former town Supervisor Clint Hollingsworth died in February after a battle with cancer and Deputy Supervisor Mary Fontana has been leading the town in the interim. She did not choose to seek a continued position at the head of the board and will return to being a councilmember after this election.

With Dattola as the supervisor elect, that would make the board full again. He would take office on Jan. 1.

“Our board is full now,” Gillis said.

He felt very positive about the election result.

In his campaign, Dattola said the town’s day-to-day operations are running smooth, and he wants to be someone to focus on a five-year plan and a 10-year plan for the town. He believes the town’s “salvation” from a shrinking population, a shrinking tax base and economic uncertainty is through economic development fueled by tourism.

He’s a founding member of the Tupper Lake Business Group, which has advocated for the town to invest more in recreational trails and attractions. Though he left the group to run for office, he hopes to complete some of its goals from the helm of the town.

Gillis’ key focus on the board has been on housing.

He said he’s glad one of Dattola’s focuses is housing, too, and that Dattola is another councilemember with building experience, who knows what goes into construction.

One of the ways the two differed as candidates was on vacation rental regulations. Gillis has brought the idea of regulating short-term vacation rentals with a permit system. Dattola said he would not want to regulate STRs. He prefers incentives for developers to build or rebuild housing.

Gillis said he still wants to pursue STR regulations for visitor safety — fire and code inspections and such.

Gillis still plans to dedicate lots of his time to improving and expanding affordable housing.

In total, 1,803 people voted in person at the polls in Tupper Lake on Tuesday. That’s around as many as voted in 2020 during the presidential election. Poll workers were surprised by the turnout on Tuesday night.