In September, when he thought his opponent had bested him in the Independence Party primary, Bob Aiello promised “November would be different.”
Unfortunately for him, he was right.
A week later after the absentee ballots were counted, Aiello had won. This time that seems extremely unlikely. Challenger Chris Allen leads 1,226-951, a margin of 275. With 174 absentee ballots out, a different result is possible mathematically, but hard to imagine. Especially when as of Monday only 114 ballots were returned. (A few more will be coming in, but not many, said a Board of Elections official.)
The result has ramifications beyond Saugerties: It throws the Legislature to the Democrats. The party controlled the legislature from 2006-09 after decades of Republican dominance.
The result surprised many, but not Allen, who has been predicting victory for months.
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