Secretary of State Gardner wins re-election bid in wild re-vote
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Secretary of State Bill Gardner held onto his seat for a 22nd term Wednesday after a bruising re-election fight, tamping down a vigorous and well-financed challenge from former gubernatorial candidate Colin Van Ostern.
But Gardner’s re-election took more than one vote, and it came with plenty of hand-wringing among lawmakers and onlookers.
In a secret-ballot election conducted by the House and Senate on Wednesday, Gardner, the nation’s longest-serving secretary of state, secured 209 votes in the second round of voting, putting him just above the halfway-mark among the 415 legislators casting votes.