GREAT BARRINGTON -- Leigh Davis appeared on her way to winning the race for 3rd Berkshire District in the state House of Representatives on Tuesday night, with results from the key town of Lenox yet to be reported.
Davis, a housing advocate and vice chair of the Great Barrington Select Board, was leading Lenox Select Board candidate Marybeth Mitts according to results available at press time. Early reports indicated strong voter turnout across the county, as officials in Becket said they were running out of ballots as of 6 p.m.
South Berkshires Leigh Davis, running for 3rd Berkshire District, touts a 'creative mindset' in tackling region's challenges By Clarence Fanto, The Berkshire Eagle 4 min to read
The winner will succeed Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, a Lenox Democrat, who is stepping down this year after representing South County for 22 years on Beacon Hill.
The district serves 18 central and southern Berkshire County towns from south of Pittsfield to the Connecticut border, as well as Dalton, which was added to the district in 2022.
At press time, with seven of 18 towns reporting, Davis had 54.5 percent of the vote to 45.3 percent for Mitts. Davis won in Lee, Richmond, Dalton and West Stockbridge, but by closer margins than in her Democratic primary victory in September. Mitts won in Otis.
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Davis made remarks to supporters and campaign workers at a post-election event at Barrington Brewery & Restaurant in Great Barrington, but did not claim victory, as Mitts' home town of Lenox had yet to report results. Her campaign huddled around the phone as results were called in.
While Davis said she felt "very good," she was "not ready to claim victory until Lenox comes in ... I guess I'm a bit superstitious."
Mitts, who celebrated at the Olde Heritage Tavern in Lenox, said she "feels really good about it ... I think it's really competitive." She was also waiting to see how Lenox shook out.
"I ran a good race. I'm happy with the platform and everything that I did," she said.
Davis was the first candidate to declare for the seat after Pignatelli announced in February he would not be seeking another two-year term on Beacon Hill.
She was joined in the race for the Democratic nomination by two members of the Stockbridge Select Board, Jamie Minacci and Patrick White, and finished first in the Sept. 3 Democratic primary.
South Berkshires Leigh Davis has won the Democratic nomination for the 3rd Berkshire District By Greg Sukiennik, The Berkshire Eagle 3 min to read
Both Mitts, a member and past chair of the Lenox Affordable Housing Trust, and Davis, the communications director of Construct, an affordable housing nonprofit company in Great Barrington, made housing availability and affordability key issues in their campaigns.
In an Eagle interview, Davis said she's "driven to make a case for the 3rd Berkshire District that hasn't been made" and cited "affordability, sustainability and dignity" as priorities. Mitts told the Eagle that in addition to housing, her priorities included health care and infrastructure.
Davis is the daughter of Lloyd Davis, a Civil Rights activist who advocated for the national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., and Mary Kay Davis, a longtime deputy of Sargent Shriver, founder of the Peace Corps and Jobs Corps, and a major supporter of the Special Olympics.
She was endorsed by several prominent state politicians, including U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, and a number of labor unions.