Mayor Ken Merrifield handily won re-election over Clayton Gassett in Tuesday's municipal election and voters also returned two incumbents to the City Council while adding a former fire chief.

The election saw 1,156 voters — or 23.28 percent of the city's 4,965 registered voters — go to the polls.

In addition to Merrifield, the other winners in City Council contests were Ward 1 incumbent Bob Sharon, who bested three challengers to keep his seat; and longtime Ward 2 Councilor Glen Feener. The decision by Jeff Rabinowitz to not seek re-election opened up the Ward 3 seat, which was won by Scott Clarenbach, who stepped down as chief in January after 25 years with the Franklin Fire Department.

"I'm really humbled and gratified by the outpouring of support," Merrifield said of the 759 votes he received compared to 377 votes for Gassett, who is a former mayor of Franklin and who served almost 30 years on the council from Ward 2.

Franklin City Mator Ken Merrifield chats with Irene Wright outside the polls at Ward 3 during the primary election day Tuesday. (Daryl Carlson/Citizen Photo) * Order a print of this photo

"The margin of victory," Merrifield added, "was really surprising to me" and as to that margin, he said it reflected that "people appreciate my stand on the issues, especially on taxes."

A champion of Franklin's municipal tax cap — earlier this year he vetoed an override by the council to correct an accounting error only to have his veto overturned — Merrifield acknowledged that the municipal spending cap "definitely had an influence" on his race with Gassett and, maybe more broadly, the council races.

Gassett, who was not available for comment, had previously said he does not oppose the tax cap and that he was running for mayor to clear up a logjam on the council over the cap. Councilor Jay Bowers, who supported Gassett, bemoaned what he called the injection of partisan politics into the elections.

Bowers alleged that the New Hampshire Republican State Committee put its weight behind Merrifield, creating a powerful advantage for the one-term mayor while putting Gassett at a disadvantage.

"I've never seen it so bad," Bowers, who is an independent, said of the politics.

A three-term councilor, Bowers said there were rumors in the community that the council had struck down the tax cap when it overrode it, "and that's just not true."

"Everybody, to my knowledge, who ran supported the tax cap," said Bowers, who added that he believes Merrifield is being groomed for a run for state elected office.

"It's no secret that Mayor Merrifield has plans beyond Franklin," Bowers said.

Merrifield confirmed that he received help from the N.H. GOP, but pointed out that Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, offered to campaign for him. Merrifield said he did his own fundraising for the mayor's race.

State Republican Party Chairman John H. Sununu hailed Merrifield's victory.

"Ken's re-election ensures that fiscally conservative policies will continue to promote economic growth and development in the city," Sununu said in a statement released late Tuesday night.

As to Bowers' assertions of looking beyond being mayor, Merrifield expressed surprise.

"I don't know why anyone would think I'm in a position to run for higher office," Merrifield said. "It's beyond my (financial) reach.

"I look forward to working with the council that we'll have and I'm very encouraged by some of the results tonight. I think that we're going to have a group of folks who I'll be very happy to work with."

In other races, voters in Ward 1 elected Elizabeth "Bettey" A. Tobey, Kathleen Russo and Karen Grzelak to the one-, two- and three-year terms, respectively, on the Franklin School Board. All three were unchallenged as was Logan Barbosa in Ward 3.

In the Ward 2 School Board race, Desiree McLaughlin received 118 votes to 117 for Ryan Fairchild. City Clerk Cynthia Torsey said Fairchild has through Friday to ask for a recount.