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New Paltz Times - Featured News | 11/5/2009 |
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A slim victory?
Mele, Koenig win Gardiner Town Board seats, unofficial count says |
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by Mike Townshend
Republican-backed challengers Carmine Mele and Richard Koenig appear to have won Tuesday's Town Board election in Gardiner by a slim margin.
Mele, a Republican, and Koenig, an independent, faced off with Democratic incumbents Janet Kern and Greg Finger.
According to unofficial results from the Ulster County Board of Elections, Koenig got 818 votes and Mele got 798.
Finger got 753 votes and Kern 724. Only 45 votes separated Mele and Finger, the two closest candidates.
Phone calls to Mele and Koenig for reactions to their win were not immediately returned. However, both men were waiting at Town Hall for the results as the polls closed.
Koenig's hands shook as he re-tabulated the total votes in Gardiner's four districts. Mele, who stood beside him, could be heard saying, "it's close."
Both men seemed to have a cautious optimism about their success as members of the local Republican Party and poll workers looked on.
Across the street at the fire house, local Democrat Kathy Hudson was tallying a count of her own. Moments after the unofficial tally came in, Hudson also remarked about how close the race was.
A phone call to Councilman Finger asking if he would call for recount was not immediately returned.
Ulster County's unofficial numbers do not include affidavit or absentee ballots until they are confirmed.
Supervisor Joe Katz regained his old job with a decisive 800-vote win. He was running unopposed until write-in candidate Ellie Gardner threw her hat into the ring early last week.
County officials had not yet tabulated votes for the write-in, but unofficial results gathered by this paper showed that she gained fewer than 25 votes.
Town Clerk Michelle Mosher won back her job with a 1470-vote win. In at least one district, a voter had cast a write-in vote for Ellie Gardner as clerk.
Town Highway Superintendent Charles Hayes and town Justice John Savago both recaptured their seats with 1270 votes and 1427 votes, respectively.
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© 2010 Ulster Publishing, Inc.
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