Veteran Saugerties legislator Mary Wawro held on by just six votes over Democratic challenger Mike MacIsaac when absentee ballots for legislative District 1 were counted at the board of elections on Wednesday. Wawro led the unofficial machine count by 32 votes on election night.
Also in Saugerties, two-term Democrat Chris Allen lost his bid for reelection to Joe Maloney by 111 votes when absentees were counted in District 2 (Saugerties village). Allen trailed Maloney, a member of the Independence Party endorsed by Republicans, by 85 votes on November 7.
Maloney said he felt that the work starts now. “Winning the election literally means nothing. You now have the chance to do something,” he said, after the counting. “A lot of people win and feel like they’ve accomplished something. But I’m really excited to get in there and think that I can push through some worthwhile policy, and be part of the budgetary process in a skeptical, but productive way. Not to hinder the process, but not to be scared to disagree.”
Allen hinted he’d be interested in appointment to supervisor-elect Fred Costello Jr.’s now vacant seat on the town board. Costello’s term has two years to run, starting January 1. “I think I could do a good job,” Allen said. “I have a lot of good ideas.”
Wawro, elected to a second term without opposition in 2015 on the Republican ticket as a member of the Conservative Party, said she was taken aback by the outcome. District demographics had moved toward Democrats in recent years, she said, and her campaigning was limited by a need to care for her elderly parents. Her father, Bill Geick, is a former county legislator.
In the Town Board race, candidate John Schoonmaker’s lead held out. He finished with a 42-vote lead over the next runner-up, Don Tucker.
The final vote totals were:
- Andreassen 4302
- Schoonmaker 2302
- Tucker 2260
- Altieri 2103
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