Despite not having Saugerties Republican party endorsement, Ulster County Sheriff’s Captain Vincent Altieri won nomination for a town board seat, alongside GOP pick Donald Tucker, while turning back the party’s other choice, Joe Roberti Jr.
With two seats available, Altieri and Tucker will face Democrats Paul Andreassen and John Schoonmaker in the November election for town council.
Altieri garnered 356 votes in the September 12 Republican primary, while Tucker came in with 301. Roberti Jr. finished out of the running with 266.
“I’m a player in the game and I worked my tail off all weekend shaking a lot of hands,” said Altieri before the results were made public, “[Campaigning has] been a learning experience in the political process, if nothing else.”
In primary elections for nominations for District 2 County Legislature, the parties choices, Democratic incumbent Chris Allen and Republican Joseph Maloney both easily won their primaries against write in challenges from the other. In the Republican primary Maloney outpaced Allen 211-42, while Allen similarly swept the Democratic primary 189-51.
Also up for grabs were legislature nominations for the Conservative line (Maloney 24, Allen 4); Green Party line (Allen 2, Maloney 1) and Independence Party (Maloney 45, Allen 15.)
“One of the big reasons I’m running comes down to priorities,” said Maloney, who was unsurprised about his inclusion on the November ballot, “We need to focus on the budget more — it’s primarily a budgetary position.”
Allen cited his service to the people. “I’ve been working very hard since 2014 helping various residents of Saugerties on various constituent issues,” he said, citing instances where he personally helped residents with tasks including the removal of a fallen tree at the entrance to Esopus Bend Preserve.
Independence party nods
Altieri also scored an unexpected win in the Independence Party primary by taking the second nomination available, finishing behind Democrat Paul Andreassen, who got 69 votes. Altieri got 44, finishing ahead of also-rans Chad McPeek, with 27 and Roberti Jr. with 25.
“Nobody ever feels confident — I’m reasonably confident,” said Roberti the day of the primaries. After ultimately losing to Tucker and Altieri, he conceded gracefully that “the results are what they are — Don and Vince deserve their victories.” He attributed his loss to “falling short” in bringing supporters to the polls.
Former Village Board member Tucker was not available for comment.
Paul Andreassen, a planning board member who beat out Roberti on the Independence party ballot, was unfazed by his win, stating that he “generated interest for the independents to come out and vote…My biggest platform is what can be done for vacant buildings and how they can be made viable again…[I’d like to] revitalize [our] community.”
“People trust me and know I’m a hard worker,” said Altieri after winning the primary. “I’m retired and looking forward to doing the job. My number one priority will be the taxes and the budget that coincides with it. I go door to door and taxes are the number one complaint I hear. I think I had a lot of support from a lot of residents; I know I did a lot of walking and talking to people. I walked for two weeks getting signatures, and that tactic works; if you meet people and they can put a face with a name, it’s easier for them to vote for you.”
Saugerties Conservatives were scheduled to caucus on September 14. The general election is November 7.
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