Democratic Incumbent Supervisor Jack Cunningham is trailing challenger Sam Messina—an Independent running on the Republican line—by 109 votes, 4,630 to 4,521. All results are unofficial.
Over 530 absentee ballots were mailed out, however, and they could tip the outcome of the race in the coming days. The distribution of the ballots by party affiliation was not immediately available.
Cunningham on Tuesday said he is eager to see a recanvass of the vote, including the hand counting of paper ballots scanned into electronic voting machines, which were in use at some polling locations in town.
“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Cunningham at Swifty’s Restaurant & Pub in Delmar. “There’s a large opportunity.”
Messina—who agreed that the race remains to be decided—said that win or lose, he was pleased to run a strong challenge against an incumbent.
“We’ve challenged the status quo, we’ve raised the issue of what government is, we brought people together,” said Messina from Angela’s Pizza & Pasta in Glenmont.
Absentee ballots must be postmarked by midnight on Nov. 2, meaning that it will take some time before they are all into the Albany County Board of Elections. The ballots were sent out later than usual this year, as a legal challenge levied by Messina toward absentee ballots cast in the Working Families Party primary race and subsequent appeals kept the general ballot from being finalized until Thursday, Oct. 29.
Cunningham said he remains concerned that overseas absentee voters may have lost their chance to vote because of the lengthy case.
“It’s disappointing that people got disenfranchised from this election because of these legal battles,” he said.
While it is clear the outcome of the race for supervisor will not be known for least several days, the Democratic candidates swept other town races.
Unofficial results show Mark Jordan and incumbent Kyle Kotary winning four-year terms on the Town Board over Fred Di Maggio and John Flanagan.
The vote broke down thusly: Jordan with 5,026 votes, Kotary with 4,717 votes, Di Maggio with 4,051 votes and Flanagan with 3,529 votes.
“I’m very grateful that the Bethlehem voters sent me back for a second term,” said Kotary. “I think it says the voters recognize the accomplishments and the hard work we’ve done over the last four years.”
“I’m grateful I will have the opportunity to serve with this fine Town Board,” said Jordan, who will be taking Messina’s seat. Both Democratic candidates said they were disappointed at some of the negative campaigning done during the race.
“I think it’s a disservice to candidates and the voting public to run negative, mean spirited, personal attack campaigns,” said Jordan, who on Friday successfully argued a grievance over a flyer released by Di Maggio’s campaign before the Fair Campaign Practices for the Capital Region group.
Flanagan congratulated the victors, and said he hopes to stage another run in two years.
“I’m up for the challenge and I’m going to stay involved,” he said.
“I wish my opponents well, I think they ran a good race,” said Di Maggio, who went on to say a few words in support of Messina’s campaign.
“I think people saw the current administration for what it was, that it was a closed, politically run government.”
Democrat Nanci Moquin defeated Republican Melanie Calzone for the position of town clerk, 5,276 votes to 3,477 votes. Moquin will replace retiring Town Clerk Kathleen Newkirk, who has been employed with the town for 32 years, 17 of them as town clerk.
“I’m looking forward to working for the town in a new capacity,” said Moquin, who is records manager for the Planning and Zoning boards and has sat on town committees.
Gregg Sagendorph will also be highway superintendent for another term. He ran unopposed.
For more news on the election as it develops, check back to www.spotlightnews.com or read the upcoming print editions of The Spotlight.
