Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on November 30, 2021

GOSHEN - The Republican-dominated Orange County Legislature is set to keep its current party split for another four years after a hand recount affirmed Democrat Laurie Tautel's come-from-behind re-election victory.

Tautel, a Highland Falls resident who represents the town of Highlands, much of Woodbury and the village of Harriman, had trailed Republican challenger Jennifer Gargiulo by nine in machine-cast votes after the Nov. 2 election. Losing that race would have cost Democrats one of only five seats they hold on the 21-member legislature.

But Tautel pulled ahead by seven after the county Board of Elections counted 130 absentee votes. The closeness of the race triggered a mandatory recount, which validated Tautel's win.

That final outcome preserved the exact party divide the chamber has had for the last four years: 15 Republicans, five Democrats and one independent. It also meant that all 19 incumbents who sought re-election won their races.

Election results: Republicans retain dominant hold on Orange Legislature

Ballot stakes: County Legislature seats and town supervisor contests across Orange

Ballots galore: Voters ask for 718 absentee ballots at one Blooming Grove house

Two close town supervisor races in Orange also came down to absentee tallies.

New Windsor Supervisor George Meyers, a registered Republican running on the Democratic ballot line, had led by just six on election night but widened his lead after absentee ballots were opened and went 164-63 in his favor. He wound up beating his GOP challenger, town CouncilmanStephen Bedetti,by 107 votes to win another two-year term.

In Woodbury, Democrat Thomas Burke overcame an 11-vote deficit on election night to become the next town supervisor, a post his late father John once held. After absentee votes were counted, Burke defeated Republican Anthony Spagna by 18 in their contest to succeed Frank Palermo.

In neighboring Monroe, Councilwoman Mary Bingham won re-election after absentee ballots expanded the slim lead she held over fellow Democratic Councilman Richard Colon on election night. Republican Dorey Houle had comfortably won the second Town Board seat at stake in that race.

The Cornwall Town Board also had a tight race for councilman involving two incumbents that came down to absentee ballots. Democrat Virginia Scott had trailed Republican Helen Bunt in machine-cast votes on election night but pulled ahead in absentee ballots and won reelection by a 28-vote margin.

In Blooming Grove, a campaign by Hasidic community leaders to elect a town councilman through write-in votes only culminated in a resounding victory for their candidate, Simon Schwartz but without the flood of absentee ballots they intended to gather.

Schwartz, whose name was not on the ballot,won the Town Board's Ward 4 seat with 432 write-in votes cast in person, rather than by absentee ballots. That total swamped the 245 votes cast for Samantha Rappa-Giovagnoli, who had run unopposed to succeed fellow Democrat Sonia Ayala.

The write-in strategy changed course after voters applied online in October for 718 absentee ballots to be sent to a single house in the village of South Blooming Grove. State and county election officials investigated the flurry of requests and ultimately mailed 327 ballots and rejected 391 applications. Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said his office would investigate the matter after the election.

cmckenna@th-record.com

The rest is here:

Absentee votes turn the tide in several Orange County races - Times Herald-Record

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