Barrett leads in tight race
GHENT–Representative Chris Gibson of Kinderhook easily won reelection to a third term in Congress Tuesday, beating challenger Sean Eldridge of Ulster County. Mr. Gibson, a Republican who also ran on the Conservative and Independence lines, will continue to represent the 19th District, which includes all of Columbia County and all or parts of 10 other counties.
In Columbia County Mr. Gibson received a total of 11,887 votes in the unofficial results released Tuesday compared to 5,781 votes for Mr. Eldridge. The New York Times reported that Mr. Gibson received 65% of the vote districtwide to 35% for Mr. Eldridge. The unofficial tally across the district was 124,428 for Mr. Gibson to 67,024 for Mr. Eldridge, according to The Times. Ed Cox, chairman of the state Republican Party congratulated Mr. Gibson in a statement Tuesday after the results were announced, saying, “I admire his intellect, his strong principles and his record of accomplishment. His passion for public service will continue to serve the people of the Hudson Valley, New York State and our nation.”
In a much closer contest incumbent Assemblymember Didi Barrett (D-106th) claimed a narrow victory over Republican challenger Mike Kelsey. The 106th Assembly District includes the City of Hudson and the Columbia County Towns of Ancram, Claverack, Clermont, Copake, Gallatin, Germantown, Ghent, Greenport, Livingston and Taghkanic plus nine towns in northern and central Dutchess County stretching south to the Town of Poughkeepsie.
In a brief statement issued late Tuesday night, Ms. Barrett said: “Despite a very tough climate for Democrats, I am very pleased that I will continue to represent the people of the 106th Assembly District. We look forward to adding to our victory with the counting of the absentee ballots. I am grateful to all our supporters and friends and look forward to getting back to work for our community.”
Ms. Barrett received a total of 4,483 votes in the unofficial Columbia County tally, trailing Mr. Kelsey, with 4,851. The Poughkeepsie Journal website, www.poughkeepsiejournal.com, reported that Ms. Barrett had a 469 vote lead in Dutchess County, which would give her a lead of 101 votes before the absentee and military votes are counted.
In other races, state Senator Kathy Marchione, a Republican, won a comfortable victory for a second term in the 43rd District, which includes all of Columbia County plus parts of Rensselaer, Saratoga and Washington counties, beating Democrat Brian Howard in the unofficial county count by 10,652 votes to 6,680. Ms. Marchione also had the Conservative and Independence lines on the ballot; Mr. Howard had the Working Families line.
Assemblyman Pete Lopez (R) ran unopposed in the 102nd District, which includes the towns of Stuyvesant and Stockport.
Incumbent Republican Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin, running also on the Conservative, Independence and Stop Common Core lines, easily defeated his Democratic challenger, East Greenbush Town Board member Philip J. Malone, in the 107th District. Mr. Malone was also endorsed by the Working Families Party. That district includes the Columbia County towns of Austerlitz, Canaan, Chatham, Hillsdale, Kinderhook and New Lebanon as well as most of Rensselaer and southern Washington counties.
In one of two competitive local races, Republican Terry Sullivan defeated Democrat Lenny Barham for a vacant seat on the Copake Town Board. The unofficial result was 574 for Ms. Sullivan and 384 for Mr. Barham.
The other local contest was for an open seat on the Taghkanic Town Board, where Republican Carolyn Sammons was in the lead by 241 votes to 232 for Democrat Linda Swartz.
There were four local ballot propositions this election. Greenport voters rejected a proposal by 596 to 513 to abolish the position of highway superintendent in favor of an appointed commissioner.
Ancram voters turned down a proposal to guarantee funding for the Roeliff Jansen Community Library by 248 No votes to 163 Yes. But voters in both Kinderhook (2,008 Yes to 1,084 No) and Stuyvesant (448 Yes to 222 No) approved increased funding for the Kinderhook Memorial Library.
Official results for the county are available online at the Columbia County Board of Elections website http://www.columbiacountyny.com/depts/elections/documents/2014General/unofficial2.HTML
ELECTION RESULTS
Unofficial vote counts do not include absentee and military ballots. Final counts will differ from results listed here. In these preliminary numbers, Copake results were not included in totals for balloting outside the Town of Copake.
“>” indicates apparent winner based on voting machine tallies reported election night
*Columbia County totals only
Governor/Lt. Gov.*
>Andrew M. Cuomo D, WF, I, WE 7,011
Kathy C. Hochul
Rob Astorino R, C, SC 8,798
Chris Moss
Howie Hawkins GRE 1,978
Brian P. Jones
Steven Cohn SAP 16
Bobby K. Kalotee
Michael McDermott L 103
Chris Edes
Comptroller*
>Thomas P. DiNapoli D, WF, I, WE 9,936
Robert Antonacci R, C, SC 7,032
Theresa M. Portelli GRE 677
John Clifton L 118
Attorney General*
>Eric T. Schneiderman D, WF, I, WE 8,232
John Cahill R, C, SC 8,787
Ramon Jimenez GRE 582
Carl E. Person L 112
Supreme Court Justice(D3)*
Justin O. Corcoran D, I 7,191
Lisa M. Fisher R, C 9,771
Representative in Congress (CD19)*
Sean S. Eldridge D, WF 6,042
>Christopher P. Gibson R, C, I 12,184
State Senator(SD43)*
Brian F. Howard D, WF 6,969
>Kathleen A. Marchione R, C, I 10,920
Member of Assembly (102)*
>Peter D Lopez R, C, I 1,146
Member of Assembly (106)*
Didi Barrett D, WF, I 4,483
Michael N. Kelsey R, C 4,851
Member of Assembly (107)*
Philip J. Malone D, WF 2,823
>Steven F McLaughlin R, C, I, SC 4,144
County Clerk
>Holly C. Tanner R, C, I 14,198
County Coroner
>Michael Blasl R, C, I 13,839
Claverack Town Council
>William Gerlach R 1,288
Claverack Town Justice
>Michael H. Brandon R 1,326
Copake Town Council
Lenny Barham D 384
>Terry Sullivan R, C, I 574
Taghkanic Town Council
Linda Swartz D 232
Carolyn Sammons R, C 241
Taghkanic Town Justice
>Robert Prochera R 298
Proposition No. 1 (Redistricting Commission)
Yes 7,750
No 8,020
Proposition No. 2 (digital bills for state lawmakers)
>Yes 12,455
No 3,652
Proposition No. 3 ($2 billion school technology bond)
>Yes 8,586
No 7,845
Proposition No. 4, Ancram (library funding)
Yes 163
>No 248
Proposition No. 4 Greenport (appoint highway supt.)
Yes 513
>No 596
Proposition No. 4 Kinderhook (library funding)
>Yes 2,008
No 1,084
Proposition No. 4 Stuyvesant (library funding)
>Yes 448
No 222