Democratic State Rep. Diana Urban of North Stonington got two pieces of good news Tuesday.

The first was that she won her sixth term as state representative from the 43rd District by defeating her Republican challenger William Cutler of Mystic by a vote of 5,914 to 3,112.

The second was that during their campaigns many of the other candidates who won seats in the legislature Tuesday touted the importance of implementing results-based accountability, a budgeting method that Urban has been pushing her colleagues to put in place for the last decade.

Now with the looming $3.5 billion state budget deficit, they see the value of the method that only funds programs that can provide data that shows they are successful. Up until now Urban has only been able to demonstrate the method on a pilot basis and has met with resistance from some state agencies. But now it appears she may have the support of the new governor and members of the General Assembly.

After listening to the announcement of the Stonington results in Town Hall, Urban said the results have been an affirmation for her.

"I think people trust that I want government that's sustainable and accountable while protecting people," she said. "They believe I'm doing the best I can to help working families, children and seniors."

She said they also trust that results-based accountability is about programs that don't work and not about hurting people. She said the growing awareness about her work on results-based accountability helped her to victory.

j.wojtas@theday.com

Diana Urban William Cutler

Stonington 4,698 2,229

North Stonington 1,216 883

TOTAL 5,914 3,112