<!--Mark Scheer--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Mark Scheer</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:mark.scheer@niagara-gazette.com">mark.scheer@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>
With 54 percent of the vote, Robert Cliffe defeated incumbent Tim Demler in Tuesday's Republican primary. Cliffe received 784 votes to Demler's 677, according to unofficial results from the Niagara County Board of Elections.
Robert Cliffe and his supporters spent weeks trying to convince voters the Town of Wheatfield needed a new leader it could trust.
Their aggressive campaign paid off in a big way on Tuesday.
In one of the rougher elections to hit Niagara County in recent years, Cliffe won the Republican primary for supervisor, knocking off 14-year incumbent Timothy Demler who was besieged during the campaign by questions about his management style, his professional conduct and even aspects of his own personal life.
Tuesday’s victory sets Cliffe up in a general election contest against endorsed Democratic and Working Families Party candidate Sam Conti Jr.
Cliffe, a former town justice who was approached earlier this summer to replace Demler as the Wheatfield Republican Committee’s endorsed candidate, focused his campaign on the notion that voters in the town were tired of the current regime and ready for a change.
“I’m absolutely elated for myself and for the people of Wheatfield,” Cliffe said.
Cliffe will also appear on the Conservative and Independence lines in the general election. He acknowledged he would need to work in the weeks ahead to convince Republican voters who sided with Demler to support him in the general election. For now, he expressed relief that the difficult primary campaign was finally over.
“It’s been a difficult election for everybody,” he said.
Wheatfield Republicans dumped Demler in favor of Cliffe this summer after questions were raised about the supervisor’s handling of town affairs and an alleged affair with a town employee who happened to be the wife of one of the GOP committee members.
The 49-year-old Demler consistently denied all of the allegations.
“Obviously, the Republican voters in Wheatfield made a decision and we respect that decision,” Demler said after the unofficial election results were tallied.
Demler said he’s not sure what he will do once his current term is up. For now, he said he intends to focus on finishing the job ahead with the residents in mind. He said he plans to work to submit a sound town budget and would continue to work to make sure residents aren’t negatively impacted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s proposed flood plain maps.
“I think we have a lot of work to do in the town still,” he said.
Demler’s critics challenged his credibility on several issues, including his handling of town funds, his connections to various contractors and individuals doing work for Wheatfield and what was described as meddling in the town’s Zoning Board and water department. Some of the issues in question dated as far back as 2005, a time when GOP committee members supported Demler as supervisor. Demler countered his accusers by saying records on file with the town proved that council members not only knew about the town payments in question but, in some instances, signed off on them. GOP committee members say they have turned the information in question over to the proper authorities, including the county District Attorney’s Office, the FBI and the state attorney general.
Demler admitted his opponent’s campaign tactics were a factor in the race. He expressed some concern that Cliffe, who received support from several town councilmen, including GOP committee member Larry Helwig, will be up for the challenge if elected.
“I hope that he isn’t just a puppet for the town councilmen,” Demler said of Cliffe. “That’s my concern. But, the people spoke. The same people who helped put me in office for the past 14 years made their decision and we support that.”
Demler threatened last week to file a lawsuit against Cliffe’s supporters, including the Niagara County Independence Party which financed a political campaign mailer that Demler believes crossed the line from typical political rhetoric to libelous statements. On Tuesday, Demler indicated that he still intends to move forward with the libel suit even though the election is over.
