PARIS – Republican Tom Winsor of Norway may have narrowly withstood a challenge by Lovell Democrat Price Hutchins to win a four-year term as Register of Probate.

With less than 50 percent of the Oxford County towns reporting, Winsor had a majority of the towns in Oxford County, except the greater Rumford area, a democratic stronghold and major population center.

With 17 towns reporting as of 11:30 p.m., Winsor led by 7,120 votes to Hutchins tally of 6,032. Winsor won in Norway, his hometown, by 1,775 to 741, but lost in Rumford by a vote of 1,838 to 1,299.

Both men ran on the promise that they would work to modernize the technology used by the court in recording wills, estates, trusts, adoptions, guardians and conservators.

This was Hutchins’ first try at public office.

Winsor, who has served since his December 2002 appointment to replace the retiring Ted Tracy, has focused on technology upgrades in the court. He said the time now spent doing things manually can be better spent serving the public in providing the information people need.

Winsor, 60, chaired a committee of registers and probate judges statewide that was charged with finding ways to use the Internet to allow the public to fill out and download some of the 135 forms used by the court.

Winsor served as a state representative for eight years and said he’s use that experience in his register’s job.

He has taken an active interest in improving the county’s Web site and arranged for discount purchasing of software products by the use of state contracts.