From left: Supervisor-elect Greg Helsmoortel, Democratic Chairman Mike Harkavy, Legislator-elect Chris Allen, Highway Superintendent Doug Myer (photo by Mookie Forcella)
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.