ELECTION 2019

Here are the results from major local races and ballot issues in the Nov. 5 general elecction in New York and Massachusetts. Winning candidates are in bold type. A brief summary follows the results for each county.

The results shown for Rensselaer, Warren and Washington counties are final, official tallies certified by local election officials. The results for Berkshire, Columbia and Saratoga counties are election-night tallies that do not include absentee ballots.

 

MASSACHUSETTS

 

BERKSHIRE COUNTY

Pittsfield mayor
Melissa Mazzeo .................................... 5,647 (47.8%)
* Linda Tyer ..................................... 6,176 (52.2%)

North Adams mayor
* Thomas Bernard .............................. 1,738 (81.8%)
Rachel Branch ........,................................ 387 (18.2%)

Incumbents were victorious in the nonpartisan races for mayor in Berkshire County’s two cities.
In Pittsfield, Tyer won a second four-year term in a close race after finishing second in September’s four-way preliminary election. Mazzeo, an at-large city councilor, placed first in September and had argued that the city’s persisten problems with crime, school safety and other issues showed the need for new leadership. But Tyer, who cast the city’s situation in more upbeat terms, prevailed in the end.
In North Adams, Bernard cruised to a second two-year term.

NEW YORK

COLUMBIA COUNTY

District attorney
* Paul Czajka (R, C, I) ..................... 10,958 (55.2%)
Eugene Keeler (D, WF)......................... 8,889 (44.8%)

Canaan supervisor
Brenda A. Adams (D) ............................. 516 (83.5%)
Suzanne M. Pemrick (R) ......................... 102 (16.5%)

Chatham supervisor
Donal Collins (R, i) ............................ 1,060 (57.3%)
Richard W. Hallock (C) .............................. 34 (1.8%)
* Maria Lull (D, i) ................................... 757 (40.9%)

Copake supervisor
Jeanne E. Mettler (D, WF) ..................... 670 (53.5%)
Kelly A. Miller-Simmons (R, C, I) ........... 583 (46.5%)

Hudson mayor
Kamal Johnson (D, WF) ...................... 1,255 (68.8%)
* Rick Rector (R, C, I) ........................... 570 (31.2%)

Hudson Common Council president
Rob Bujan (R, C, I) ................................. 697 (40.6%)
* Thomas M. DiPietro (D, WF) .......... 1,020 (59.4%)

Hudson 2nd Ward supervisor
Willette “Shell” Jones (WF) ..................... 105 (34.7%)
* Abdus Miah (D, R, C, I) ....................... 198 (65.3%)

 

Hudson 4th Ward alderman (2 seats)
* John S. Rosenthal (D) ...................................... 222
* Rich “Trixie” Volo (R) .........................................144
Malachi Walker (D) ........................................... 231

Kinderhook supervisor
Peter Bujanow (D, WF, G) ..................... 1,295 (40.9%)
Patsy Leader (R, C, I) ........................ 1,874 (59.1%)

New Lebanon supervisor
Louis “Bud” Godfroy III (R, C) ............... 242 (29.3%)
Tistrya G. Houghtling (D, WF, G, I) ...... 585 (70.7%)

Stuyvesant supervisor
Edward D. Depew III (D, WF) ................ 252 (38.4%)
* Ronald L. Knott (R, C, I) ..................... 405 (61.6%)

In the only countywide race, Czajka won a third consecutive term as district attorney, easily defeating Keeler, who has now made four unsuccessful bids for the job.
In Hudson, Johnson will become the city’s first African-American mayor after handily beating Rector, a one-term incumbent. Although Rector’s name remained on the ballot, he had suspended his campaign after losing to Johnson in the Decmoratic primary in September.
Only six seats on the 23-member county Board of Supervisors were contested, and only one incumbent lost, in Chatham, where a controversial zoning proposal was the top issue.

 

RENSSELAER COUNTY

Family Court judge
Philip J. Danaher (R, C, L, I) ............. 18,176 (48.4%)
* Elizabeth Walsh (D, WF, G) ............. 19,380 (51.6%)

Grafton supervisor
* Ingrid Gundrum (R, C, I) ................... 407 (52.9%)
Frank Higgins Jr. (D) ............................... 362 (47.1%)

Hoosick supervisor
William Hanselman (R, C, WF, I) ........... 701 (49.8%)
* Mark Surdam (D, i) ............................ 707 (50.2%)

North Greenbush supervisor
Joseph Bott III (R, C, I) ..................... 1,931 (48.2%)
Mary Frances Sabo (D) ........................ 1,750 (43.7%)
Ronald M. Sinico (D, WF) ........................ 326 (8.1%)

Petersburgh supervisor
Siegfried Krahforst (R) ........................... 138 (38.0%)
Dennis Smith (D) .................................. 225 (62.0%)

Poestenkill supervisor
Keith A. Hammond (C, WF, I) ............... 561 (38.1%)
David Hass (R) ........................................ 463 (31.5%)
Steven Keller (D) .................................... 447 (30.4%)

Sand Lake supervisor
Jacki Geraci (D, WF) ........................... 1,284 (45.6%)
* Nancy W. Perry (R, C, I) .................... 1,532 (54.4%)

There were contested races for six town supervisor seats around the county, and all of the incumbents who sought re-election won -- though only by a six-vote margin in Hoosick.

 

SARATOGA COUNTY

Ballston supervisor
Eric P. Connolly (D, R) ........................ 1,902 (72.0%)
* Timothy J. Szczepaniak (C, I ) ............... 741 (28.0%)

Milton supervisor
* Scott T. Ostrander (R) ....................... 1,826 (47.0%)
Benny L. Zlotnick Jr. (D, C, I) ............ 2,058 (53.0%)

Saratoga Springs mayor
Timothy A. Holmes (R)........................ 2,222 (31.3%)
Meg Kelly (D, WF, I) .......................... 4,887 (68.7%)

Saratoga Springs county supervisor (two seats)
* Tara N. Gaston (D, WF) ............................... 3,499
Stephen J. Mittler (R, C, L) ................................3,273
* Matthew E. Veitch (R, C, I RF) ...................... 4,536

Saratoga Springs public safety commissioner
Robin O. Dalton (R, C, L, I, i) ............. 3,695 (53.7%)
Kendall Hicks (D) ................................ 3,184 (46.3%)

Saratoga Springs public works commissioner
Dillon C. Moran (D) ............................ 3,268 (45.9%)
* Anthony “Skip” Scirocco (R, C, I) ..... 3,848 (54.1%)

Wilton supervisor
Nancy E. Dwyer (D, WF) ....................... 1,617 (42.1%)
John J. Lant (R, C, I) ......................... 2,221 (57.9%)

In Saratoga Springs, Kelly easily won a second term as mayor. But Republicans gained a seat on the City Council, with Dalton winning an open seat as public safety commissioner. That leaves Democrats with a 3-2 council majority.
In town supervisor races elsewhere in the county, challengers defeated incumbents in Ballston and Milton, while Republicans retained a seat in Wilton, where longtime Supervisor Arthur Johnson retired.

WARREN COUNTY

Glens Falls 1st Ward county supervisor
* John “Jack” Diamond (D) ................... 156 (54.4%)
Nancy L. Underwood (R, I, RF) ............. 131 (45.6%)

Glens Falls 2nd Ward county supervisor
Matthew S. Brown (R, I) ......................... 301 (42.9%)
* Peter V. McDevitt (D, C) .................... 400 (57.1%)

Glens Falls 3rd Ward county supervisor
* Claudia Braymer (D) ......................... 498 (83.7%)
Nathan Dunn (L) ..................................... 97 (16.3%)

Glens Falls 4th Ward county supervisor
Stephen Baratta (D, WF) ........................ 132 (46.2%)
Daniel Bruno (R, I) ............................... 154 (53.8%)

Queensbury county at-large supervisor (four seats)
* Douglas Beaty (R, L, I) ................................. 3,203
Jean A. Lapper (D) ............................................ 3,013
* Brad Magowan (R, I) .................................... 3,443
Rachel Seeber (R, I) ........................................ 3,223
* Michael Wild (R, I) ....................................... 3,504

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Dresden supervisor
* Paul D. Ferguson (R, i) ........................ 155 (69.2%)
George D. Gang (D, i) .............................. 89 (30.8%)

Fort Edward supervisor
Lester E. Losaw Jr. (R) ......................... 466 (51.8%)
*Terry Middleton (D, i) ......................... 433 (48.2%)

Greenwich supervisor
* Sara Idleman (D, i) .............................. 701 (49.0%)
Don Ward (R, i) .................................... 731 (51.0%)

Salem supervisor
* Evera Sue Clary (D, i) ......................... 498 (63.4%)
Howard A. Law (R) ........................,....... 288 (36.6%)

White Creek supervisor
James Griffith (D, i) ............................... 352 (51.5%)
* Robert E. Shay (R) ............................... 331 (48.5%)

In the five contested supervisor races among the county’s 17 towns, voters ousted longtime leaders in Fort Edward, Greenwich and White Creek.
— Compiled by Fred Daley