GIRRARD ELECTED GOVERNOR AS YORKFIRST SCORES DECISIVE VICTORY

Worthington Mayor Wins 97 Electoral Votes to Iskoff''s 58; YorkFirst-Backed Candidates Win Majority Of Legislative Races

Worthington, 8 p.m. EST -- Worthingon Mayor Gilbert Girrard was elected Governor of York today, culminating a campaign season dominated by major party politics for the first time in the region's history. Integra candidate Hale Iskoff,a former two-term mayor of Liberty, conceded in a brief but reportedly friendly telephone call shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m.

Though each of the major party candidates won majorities in 12 localities, Girrard captured 97 electoral votes to Iskoff's 58, winning in seven of the region's 10 largest cities. The popular vote totals were much closer, however, with less than five percentage points separating the totals in more than half of York's cities and towns. Girrard took 50.1 percent of the popular vote to 48.2 percent for Iskoff and 1.7 percent for several write-in candidates.

In Vokskhaus races, YorkFirst candiates or those endorsed by YorkFirst were elected to 66 seats in the 106-seat body. But the Senate races split exactly down the middle, with 24 seats each for YorkFirst and Integra. The makeup of the Senate seems likely to be a powerful check on the YorkFirst agenda.

Today's election made for some strange political bedfellows. The self-proclaimed social welfare states of Morgantown and Prole joined the minimalist government cities of Liberty and Enterprise in voting for Iskoff and Integra, united in their concern that a more activist and foreceful regional government might infringe on their governments' prerogatives. In his victory speech to approximatley 3,000 supporters at Worthington's Zollman Pavillion, Girrard sought to allay those fears. "To those who look on our victory with trepidation," Girrard said, "let me reassure you tonight that we have no intention of breaching your integrity or forcing you into some cookie-cutter mold of what we think a city should be. Our diversity is our strength, and we will not run roughshod over you as we seek to build a bigger, better York."

For his part, in a concession speech at the Liberty Statue in the heart of his hometown, Iskoff promised "cooperation and compromise." Harking back to the controversy which gave rise to his party, however, the Integra candidate added, "But when arrogance leads to such unnecessary, wasteful, and devastatingly disruptive proposals as the capital beltway boondoggle, there will be no compromise. We will fight such stupidity with every weapon we have at our disposal."

PICTURE: Uptown Burlington, shortly after polls closed. In a close race, the region's most densely populated city provided 15 electoral votes for Girrard and YorkFirst. Exit polling showed voters in Burlington and elsewhere were as likely to make their choices based on such issues as education and healthcare as they were on the galvanizing issue of the campaign, integrated regional development.