Published: April 08, 2008 04:00 am
Lambert wins GOP nod for Otsego judge
By Tom Grace
Cooperstown News Bureau
COOPERSTOWN _ Otsego County's Republican Committee has overwhelmingly endorsed lawyer John Lambert of Cooperstown to be the next county judge.
A vacancy exists because former county Judge Michael Coccoma won election to the state Supreme Court bench last November.
At Monday night's committee meeting at the county courthouse in Cooperstown, Lambert won an endorsement on the first ballot. With 97 people voting in person and by proxy, Lambert, 38, the county's chief assistant district attorney, garnered 57 votes.
Oneonta lawyer Richard Harlem, 51, received 17 votes. Richard Brown, 42, support magistrate for Delaware and Otsego counties, received 12 votes. Oneonta city prosecutor Michael Getman, 51, received seven votes. And Claudette Newman, law clerk to state Supreme Court Justice Kevin Dowd, received two votes.
At the end of the meeting, Newman, 38, of Gilbertsville, said she is considering whether to run in a Republican primary in September.
The county's Democratic Committee has met with Richfield Springs lawyer Jhilmil Ghaleb, an independent voter, but has yet to endorse a judicial candidate.
Lambert, who serves as Cooperstown village attorney, was nominated by lawyer Martin Tillapaugh of Cooperstown.
Lambert, he said, is highly qualified by experience and temperament to be the county's next judge.
``John's values mirror our community's values,'' said Tillapaugh, who like Lambert, graduated from Hartwick College in Oneonta.
Lambert's nomination was seconded by county Clerk Kathy Sinnott Gardner, former county Undersheriff Bruce Carroll, and Otsego County Rep. James Johnson of Otsego.
Harlem was nominated by Oneonta businessman Tom Armao; Brown, by lawyer Carmela Mone; Harlem, by Lucy Ann Card; and Newman, by Barbara Lilley.
To win the committee's endorsement, a candidate had to receive a majority of votes, a process that can take several ballots in a large field. However, Lambert's popularity appeared to surprise even the candidate when the results were announced.
``I'm not really prepared to give a speech, but I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart,'' he said to sustained applause.
Otsego County judges preside in county, family and surrogate court. Judge Brian Burns is the county's other judge. Judges are elected to 10-year terms and earn $119,800 a year.