View official election results here.
In unofficial returns in the Ulster DA race, Manny Nneji leads Mike Kavanagh by 195 votes
Manny Nneji, Nigerian-born Ulster County chief assistant district attorney, appears to have been elected to a four-year term as Ulster County district attorney Tuesday night, winning as a Democrat by the narrowest of margins in unofficial election-night returns over former Republican and now non-enrolled voter Mike Kavanagh, who had also served as chief assistant DA. With 90 percent of the precincts in the county reporting (132 of 146), Nneji had 22,466 votes to Kavanagh’s 21,067. Six of the missing precincts, however, were in heavily Republican Shawangunk, where four years ago Kavanagh achieved a 535-vote plurality over then-opponent Dave Clegg. When the unofficial results from the last precincts came in, they showed Nneji still ahead — but only by 195 votes, 23,631 to 23,436. There will likely be a recount. The popular Kavanagh had probably done better than any other local Republican — or ex-Republican — could have done. In the past four years, there has been a massive pandemic and post-pandemic surge in Democratic enrollment and no change in Republican enrollment. But fewer of the dominant Democrats seem to have shown up to vote this November 7. The total tally was about 5500 total votes short of what it had been in the 2019 DA race.
— Geddy Sveikauskas
Dems keep control of county legislature
Democrats and Republicans split the eight races for contested seats in the Ulster County legislature, but despite a net loss of one seat, Democrats maintained a comfortable 15-8 margin on the body. Fifteen of the 23 seats were uncontested.
The contested races went like this:
In District 3 in the towns of Saugerties and Ulster, Republican Conservative Jason Kovacs defeated Democrat and Working Families (WF) party candidate Keith Gurgui.
District 4 in the Towns of Kingston, Ulster, flipped as Eric J. Kitchen, Republican and Conservative defeated Tamika Dunkley, Democrat, WF, by a 58%-42% margin for the seat vacated by Democrat Brian Cahill.
In District 6, with Democratic incumbent Phil Erner not running,Greg McCoullough, Democrat, WF, defeated Suzanne Timbrouck, who had the Independence line.
With 100 percent of the votes reported in District 9in the towns of Lloyd and Plattekillincumbent Republican Conservative Herbert Litts III defeated Robert Haskins, Democrat , WF, by 52%-48%, a margin of 77 votes.
In District 14 in the Towns of Shawangunk and Wawarsing, Republican incumbent
Craig V. Lopez, who ran only on the Independence Party line, defeated Kelli Palinkas Greer, Democrat, WF, by 61%-38%
District 15 in Wawarsing and the village of Ellenville handed Democratic incumbent John Gavar is a clear win over Daniel C. McQuillan, on the Republican, and Independence lines.
In District 16, (Towns of Gardiner, Shawangunk) where legislature chair Tracey A. Bartels (No party) did not run again, Debra Clinton, Democrat and WF defeated Phil R. Johnson Republican, Conservative.
And in District 21, in Rochester and Wawarsing, incumbent Chris Hewitt, Democrat, WF, defeated Ronald G. Lapp Jr., Republican, Conservative, with 100 percent of the vote counted.
— Brian Hollander
15 no contests
Here’s who won the uncontested races:
In District 1 in the Town of Saugerties, Democrat incumbent Aaron Levine ran unopposed.
District 2 in the town and village of Saugerties featured incumbent Democrat Joseph Maloney running unopposed.
District 5 in the City of Kingston reelected Abe Uchitelle, Democrat and Working Families, with no opposition.
District 7 in the City of Kingston sent Democrat Peter Criswell to the legislature without an opponent.
Joe Donaldson Democrat, WF was unopposed in District 8, Esopus, as incumbent Laura Petit stepped aside.
Gina Hansut, Republican, Conservative incumbent ran unopposed in District 10 (Towns of Lloyd and Marlborough) as did Thomas Corcoran Jr. Republican, Conservative in District 11 (Town of Marlborough.)Same with Kevin Roberts, Republican, Conservative in, Plattekill’s District 12.
Republican Richard T. Walls, was unopposed in the Town of Shawangunk’s 13th District.
Democrat Megan Sperry was unopposed in District 17, Esopus and New Paltz.
Same in District 18 (Hurley, Marbletown), where Eric Stewart, Democrat and WF, ran without an opponent.
Also unopposed was Democrat and WF party’s Manna Jo Greene, in District 19, Marbletown and Rosendale.
In New Paltz District 20, with Democratic incumbent Tricia Bowen not running, Democrat, WF Limina Grave Harmon, ran unopposed.
Incumbent Democrat and Working Families candidate Kathy Nolan ran unopposed in District 22, consisting of Denning, Hardenburgh, Olive ad Shandaken.
And finally, in District 23, consisting of Woodstock and Hurley, where Legislature Majority Leader Jonathan Heppner, Democrat, WF, is not running, Democrat Jeff Collins ran unopposed.
Statewide props pass easily; most town ones did, too
Back of the ballot Propositions One and Two were on their way to a handy passage early on election night.
Number One, a statewide issue, proposed a State Constitutional Amendment that calls for the “Removal of Small City School Districts From Special Constitutional Debt Limitation…”
The only Small City School District that this applies to in Ulster County, is Kingston.
Proposition Two is a statewide constitutional amendment proposal that, if passed will extend for ten years an already in place authority of counties, cities, towns, and villages to remove from their constitutional debt limit calculations, debt for the construction of sewage facilities.
Proposition Three, an amendment to the Ulster County Charter regarding the process of succession for the post of County Executive, passed by a large margin.
This allows voters to get to a primary election for county executive, should there be candidates for it, prior to a special election for the job.
Proposal Number Four, also passed by a large margin, says that it wants to “improve transparency and accountability of Ulster County’s financial operations and oversight, protect taxpayer funds, and comply with state and federal auditing guidance.”
There were several Propositions that pertained to towns only.
The town of Hardenburgh has advanced a proposition to abolish the elected position of town highway superintendent and establish an appointed town highway superintendent. 74% of the electorate voted in favor of the proposal.
The town of Marbletown asked its voters if they would approve of making the job of Town Supervisor a four-year term rather than a two-year term, as it is in most towns. With 99% of the vote counted, the proposition led by a mere 40 votes.
The town of Marlborough asked its voters the same question — a four-year term for its town supervisor, rather than a two-year sentence? The result, with 99% of the vote counted, was a rejection by a mere 19 votes. Absentee votes may make a difference here.
Marlborough voters approved a library budget handily. As they did for a library budget proposition in New Paltz.
The town of Shandaken has two libraries to take care of. Both budget propositions passed handily.
And finally, the town of Saugerties checks in with its voters to see if “the manner of selecting the Receiver of Taxes in the Town of Saugerties be changed from elected to appointed, effective January 1, 2024…” The proposition was significantly rejected.
— Brian Hollander
Easy win for McKenna in Woodstock
Woodstock voters sent a clear message they have confidence in the McKenna administration and in political newcomer Anula Courtis.
Despite being rocked by, then cleared of sexual misconduct charges and attacked over his handling of the contaminated fill in Shady, incumbent supervisor Bill McKenna won by a nearly 39 percent margin over challenger Bennet Ratcliff, 1757-775 votes. Incumbent council member Laura Ricci took the lead in the town board race with 1721 votes. A very close second was Courtis with 1701 votes.
Deciding to run on the Working Families Party line after losing the Democratic primary did not pan out for Ratcliff or town board candidates Linda Lover (769 votes) and Michael Veitch (652 votes).
Don Allen, a Democrat, was the clear winner in the highway superintendent race with 85 percent of the vote (2160) against Air Land and Water candidate Tim Keefe (357).
Town clerk Jackie Earley ran unopposed.
— Nick Henderson
Hurley supervisor race too close to call
The Hurley town supervisor election is too close to call in a squeaker of a race between incumbent Democrat Melinda McKnight and Republican challenger Mike Boms.
With all precincts reporting, McKnight trails Boms by just 34 votes, 1193-1159. The final result may depend on the number of absentee and affidavit ballots to be counted or a recount.
On the town board, Republican challenger Diana Cline is in and councilman and deputy supervisor Peter Humphries is out, having placed third in a four-way race for two seats.
Cline placed first with 1228 votes, followed by incumbent Democrat Gregory Simpson (1191), Humphries (1066) and Republican William Mayhon III (993).
Incumbent Democrat Town Clerk Annie Reed won re-election with 1190 votes to Republican challenger Tracy Kellogg (1130 votes).
Highway Superintendent Mike Shultis and Town Justices John E. Parker (Republican) and Roy Hochberg (Democrat) ran unopposed.
— Nick Henderson
Incumbents get reelected in Saugerties
Incumbents in the Town of Saugerties had a successful night at the polls on Tuesday.
Incumbent Supervisor Fred Costello ran unopposed. Costello picked up 2,901 votes on the Democratic line, and 999 on Working Families, for a total of 3,900.
Also faring well were Democratic councilperson incumbents Leanne Thornton, who earned 3,185 votes, and Michael Ivino, who picked up 2,976 votes. Trailing in unofficial results were Albert Bruno (Conservative/Republican) with 2,297 votes, and George Heidcamp, Sr., with 994 votes.
Incumbent Town Justice Stanley O’Dell (Republican/Working Families) appears to have held off Democrat Aimee Richter, who he leads in unofficial results 2,618-2,423. Gaetana Ciarlante (Conservative) earned 284 votes in unofficial results.
Like the supervisor race, receiver of taxes also saw a single candidate run unopposed: Dianne Friedmann (Conservative/Republican) earned 3,265 votes as receiver of taxes; Friedmann was appointed to the position in June of this year.
With considerable turnover in the position of receiver of taxes in recent years, town officials were hoping that making an apolitical position appointed rather than elected would allow Saugerties to ensure they attract the most qualified candidates moving forward. As the sole ballot initiative in the town, changing the receiver of taxes position from elected to appointed failed by a margin of 3,383-1,581 in unofficial results.
— Crispin Kott
No New Paltz surprises
With no opposition for any local office, none of the town or village election outcomes were in doubt this year. Voters also were asked to weigh in on giving the Elting Memorial Library more property tax dollars, a proposition that’s never failed. This was also the first year that village election administration was handled at the county level, a move that was seen as beneficial by proponents as a way to increase turnout. Some 200 voters weighed in on that question, and the number to vote in village elections this year was at least 442. The change had other impacts, including shifting the election cost from village to county taxpayers, and imposing a partisan scheme on a campaign that had been nonpartisan for generations. With this being the first election in this new system—and also a completely non-competitive one, for village positions—drawing conclusions from these limited data would be premature.
In the village races, Tim Rogers received 881 votes for mayor, and Alex Wojcik got 846 to continue as trustee. Newcomer Stevie Susta will take the seat being vacated by Michele Zipp with just 155 votes.
Rosanna Rosenkranse swept back into the town clerk’s office with 2,305 votes, Jim Bacon got 2,304 as town justice, and the town council race was equally expected. For those seats, incumbent Julie Seyfert-Lillis was returned with 2,077 votes, and Kitty Brown got 2,164 in the general election after besting Alex Baer, who received the fewest votes in the primary.
As for the question of boosting the town tax dollars given straight to the library by $65,000 — for a total of $721,000) annually — the breakdown was 2,017 for and 670 against. As per the original referendum allowing for this funding mechanism, that’s an automatic part of the town budget, until such time as it’s changed again, through a vote like this one.
Vote totals are the unofficial results available on the county’s board of elections web page as of 11:08 p.m. on November 7.
— Terence P Ward
Did Majestic squeak by Arnold for Gardiner supervisor?
Town of Gardiner Democrats swept all seats up for grabs in this election cycle, but it was a close call for incumbent supervisor Marybeth Majestic. A contentious race, with many Dems defecting to Republican/Independent/Green Gardiner challenger Scott Arnold, ended at midnight with Majestic ahead of Arnold by a mere two percentage points. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, the Ulster County Board of Elections unofficially listed 1,087 votes (51.01 percent) counted for Majestic to 1,044 (48.99 percent) for Arnold.
In all the other election contests in Gardiner, the Democratic Party candidates won by comfortable margins. With 1,307 votes (32.09 percent), incumbent councilman Franco Carucci was elected to another term. The Town Board seat being vacated by Democrat Laura Walls, who opted not to run for reelection, will be filled by former Environmental Conservation Commission chair Michael Hartner, with 1,319 votes (32.38 percent). Republican/Conservative Dave Wingfield trailed with 742 votes (18.22 percent), followed by Republican/Conservative Katherine Ann Morrison, who received 705 votes (17.31 percent).
In the race to fill the town justice seat being vacated by retiring Democrat Bruce Blatchly, a former member of Gardiner’s Zoning Board of Appeals and Open Space Commission, Democrat Laura Wong-Pan, was pitted against a former Planning Board and Town Board member, Republican/Conservative Carmine Mele. Wong-Pan won handily with 1,317 votes (61.06 percent) to Mele’s 840 (38.94 percent).
The only other municipal seat that needed filling this November was the unexpired term of longtime Town clerk/tax collector Michelle Mosher, who retired in late 2022 with three years left to go. Mosher’s appointed replacement, Democrat Julia Hansen, ran unopposed and garnered 1,578 votes (100 percent).
As of presstime on Election Night, neither Marybeth Majestic nor Scott Arnold had responded to requests for a statement about the outcome of the Town of Gardiner supervisor race. It was as yet unknown whether Arnold had conceded or would await the Board of Elections’ official vote count, given the narrow margin in the unofficial returns.
— by Frances Marion Platt
Noble wins his third year as mayor of Kingston
Ulster County Democratic headquarters for the 2023 odd-year election for local offices was Keegan Ales in Kingston.
As expected, mayor Stebe Noble secured ahis third term against challenger Scott Denny. Noble dominated Denny with a vote count of 3271 to 1917. Only Ward 7 broke for Denny by a tally of 388 to 345.
Andrea Shaut, running uncontested for another term as alder at large, received 3959 votes.
Ward 1 – Sarah Pasti ran uncontested with 465 votes.
Ward 2 – Michael Tierney, uncontested and the most progressive of the newly elected alders, drew 420 votes.
Ward 3 – Rennie Scott Childress easily fended off challenger Jean C. Jacobs 626 to 187
Ward 4 – Jeanne Edwards pulled 282 votes to win in an uncontested race
Ward 5 – Teryl Mickens received 320 in her uncontested race.
Ward 6 – Bob Denison received 419 votes in his uncontested race
Ward 7 – Though his name wasn’t on the ballot, Drew Andrews, nominated by the Democratic committee. will hold the seat
Ward 8 – Incumbent Steven Schabot counted 355 votes in his uncontested race
Ward 9 – Michelle Hirsch returns with 532 votes, the highest number in any contested race in Kingston
In Ulster, Democrat Keith Gurgui’s legislative candidacy fell to Republican lawyer Jason J. Kovacs 1172 to 855. In a neighnoring district, Democratic candidate Tamika Dunkley was defeated by Eric Kitchner, 963 to 703.
The cowning jewel of the evening, a nailbiter, was Emanuel Nneji’s 23,631 to 23,436 win against Michael Kavanagh. Kavanagh missed the brass ring by just 195 votes this time. In 2019 it was only 78 votes.
Manny Nneji, the man of the hour, received enthusiastic applause when he arrived to take the stage. His speech was grateful, solemn and at times broken by tears — a man blindsided at the intersection of his hopes and the slim margin of their realization.
Newly crowned district attorney Nneji promised interviews in the days to come, but for the time being, the man was simply overcome.
— Rokosz Most
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