CARRBORO — March 27, 1996, 6:45 a.m. ESTFrom Staff and Wire Report

An effort to recall a Carrboro town alderman convicted on a drunken driving charge failed Tuesday.

Seventy-two percent of the more than 1,400 voters on Tuesday voted against the recall of Alex Zaffron. About 12 percent of Carrboro's registered voters went to the polls for the county's first-ever recall election.

``I was surprised by the margin,'' Zaffron said Tuesday night after the regularly scheduled Board of Aldermen meeting ``My thanks to everyone who took the time to come out and vote.''

Zaffron was charged with driving while impaired just three weeks after he won election in November.

Cates Farm resident Sheryl Baker mounted a successful petition drive to get the recall election scheduled. Meanwhile, a group calling itself the Friends of Alex Zaffron supported the alderman and said he deserved a second chance.

When police stopped Zaffron, he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.11 percent. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.

Zaffron, 33, gave up his driver's license for a year after the incident. Records showed that he had 13 driving violations dating back to 1978