The race for the first selectman seat was a close one. Mrs. Drayton-Rogers, who won a second term, garnered 1,895 votes to Mr. Haversat's 1,862 votes.

Mr. McKane, with 1,871 votes, and Mr. Yish, with 1,878 votes, also won seats on the Board of Selectmen.

The votes for Mr. Haversat, Mr. McKane and Mr. Yish were so close, however, that plans for an automatic recount were in process last week.

In Connecticut, an automatic recount is mandated any time the margin of victory falls below twenty votes and must take place within five days of an election.

Mrs. Drayton-Rogers, who ran on her two-year record of achievements, including the construction of a sewer and water line on Route 67, termed her victory "bittersweet" in that many of her underslate were defeated by Republicans.

When terms of office become effective on November 17, the Board of Finance, the Board of Education and the Planning and Zoning Commission will have Republican majorities.

Mrs. Drayton-Rogers told a group of more than 100 supporters who assembled at the Colonial Tavern after the election, that she planned to work as hard as she did her first term for all the people of Oxford.

"I'm hoping Republicans who won seats on boards will work for the good of the town and not for the good of their party. That's the challenge I'm putting out to them," she said.

Mrs. Drayton-Rogers added that her intent was to continue the integrity and honesty that her administration brought to the town.

She said her goals for the next two-years included forming a charter revision commission and a school building committee and to work toward building a new library.

She ended her speech with a thank you to supporters, saying they stepped up to the plate and took the high road during the campaign.

"We never got into the mud and the dirt like our opponents did," she said.

Mr. McKane, in a brief speech, thanked his family and voters for their support and vowed to work hard for the town.

Mr. Haversat, who campaigned against high-density housing, said Wednesday morning that he naturally was disappointed at having lost the race for first selectman.

But, he said he was happy for his running mate and for other Republicans who won seats.

"We really tried," he said. "I don't know what we could have done differently to close the gap by that much."

That the vote was so close and that the Republican underslate trounced their Democratic opponents demonstrated to him that "it was obvious people were not totally pleased with Mrs. Drayton-Rogers," he said.

Mr. Yish, in a telephone interview with Voices, said he was honored to be chosen by townspeople and would work hard in their behalf.

He said it was a bittersweet victory because his running mate lost. "I couldn't ask for a better running mate than Dave Haversat. It was nice to win but a bit of a shock for Dave to come up short," he said.

M. Yish said he regarded the fact that many Republicans won seats on boards and commissions as a clear mandate from the town for a change in direction.

"Hopefully we can all work together, depending on how the recount goes and move the town forward," he said.

Mr. Yish said he would take the opportunity during his upcoming tenure to introduce some of the suggestions he received from residents during his door-to-door campaigning.

These include instituting an anti-littering program and creating a dog park on the Tetlak property.

He said these kinds of programs would be a benefit to the town and could be implemented without being financially draining.

Other results of the election follow. The party each candidate ran with is indicated by an (R), (D) or (P). Winners are denoted by an asterisk.

Town Clerk, Linda Crowe (R) 1,544, *Margaret Potts West (D) 2,150;

Town Treasurer, *Michael Angelini (R) 1,896, Kathy Johnson (D) 1,750;

Board of Finance, *Lila Ferrillo (R) 1,968, Joseph Kutniewski (D) 1,593; *Thomas Kelly (R) 1,921, James Murphy (D) 1,699, *Jack Kiley (R) 1,902, Albert Benoit (D), 1,592;

Board of Education, *William Neary (R), 1,941, Kevin Reid (D) 1,565, Melinda Dorazio (R) 1,802, *Theodore Oczkowski (D) 1,692, *Michael Macchio (R) 1,806; Debbie Sherman (D), 1,676, David Penry (R) 1,754, *Lisa Hellauer (D) 1,805, Traci Kilmartin (R) 1,782, *Paula Guillet (D) 1,755;

Board of Education, two year term, *Colleen Lowell (R) 1,891, Maria Addario-Alter (D) 1,590; *John Lavin (R) 1,867, Rebecca Piorek (D) 1,656;

Board of Assessment Appeals, *Claire McNamara (R) 1,828, Jeanne Shuster (D) 1,743;

Planning and Zoning Commission, *Alan Goldstone (R) 1,675, Joseph Kidd (D) 1,302, Edwin Hellauer, Jr. (P) 654, * Bonnie Bartosiak (R) 1,728, Robert Zavalko (D), 1,256, Vincent Vizzo, Jr. (P) 649, *Patrick Cocchiarella (R) 1,758, Peter Bunzl (D) 1,387, Eric Tichy (P) 636, August Palmer, III, (R) 1,452 , *William Johnson (D) 1,511;

Zoning Board of Appeals, *Larry Ellis (R) 1,909, Angela Skyers (D) 1,563, *Richard Link, II, (R) 1,747 and Jesse Burrows, Jr. (D) 1,617.

A total of 45 percent of the town's 8,339 eligible voters cast ballots.