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Woodstock Times - Featured News | 11/5/2009 |
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GOP is back
Party regains majority in county legislature |
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| | Former District Attorney, now County Court Judge-elect, Don Williams and supporters.
[ Dan Barton ] | |
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by Hugh Reynolds
It seemed like old times for Ulster County Republicans, with the top of Tuesday's election ticket romping to easy victory and the county legislature back in GOP hands for the first time since 2003.
Bucking the tide, Kingston Democrat Jim Gilpatric won a near 20,000-vote victory over Albany Republican Jill Dunn in the race for state supreme court in the Third Judicial District.
County Republican chairman Mario Catalano attributed the upset that turned a 19-14 Democratic majority to an 18-15 Republican edge to county charter reform. "The people voted for a balance in government when they voted for the charter [in 2006]," he said, noting that Democrats also held the offices of executive and comptroller. "Democrats weren't doing that. They never raised their voice against the executive. They abandoned their responsibilities as a co-equal branch of government, and the people saw that."
As evidence, Catalano cited the defeat of Democratic majority leader Brian Cahill of the Town of Ulster, a strong supporter of county executive Mike Hein. Gary Bischoff of Saugerties, another charter proponent, also lost his seat as Republicans took all four seats in Saugerties. Newcomers Michael Sweeney and Walter Frey will join Robert Aiello and Dean Fabiano in the Saugerties delegation next year.
Republicans picked up another seat in the Lloyd-New Paltz district with Mary Beth Maio defeating Jon Decker. Carl Belfiglio, a Republican, joins Democrat Alan Lomita and Republican Laura Petit in Esopus-Rosendale to give the GOP a two-to-one edge in that district.
In Dutchess County, a one-vote Democratic majority which had been vociferously critical of Republican executive Bill Steinhaus was swept out of office as the GOP took 18 of 25 seats.
"A Republican tsunami slammed into the northeast," Democratic Chairman Julian Schreibman said on Wednesday. "Look what happened in Dutchess. Obviously, we felt bad about losing judge and clerk, but what really hurt was losing the legislature. We have a lot of work to do, but a lot to build on."
Despite the election night calamity that visited his party, Schreibman said he has no plans to step aside. "I'll stay as long as they want me," he said. Schreibman was elected to a two-year term last year.
Spirited campaign
Former Republican district attorney Donald Williams was taking almost 60 percent of the vote against Democrat incumbent appointee Deborah Schneer in the race for county judge. Unofficial returns showed Williams leading by 24,394 to Schneer's 16,894. Turnout was light, with about 40 percent of registered voters casting ballots.
Williams said he was "humbled" by the margin and grateful to voters, his campaign workers and his family. "I didn't think this chance would ever come," he said. Williams had been a prosecutor for almost 30 years, the last nine as district attorney. He retired as DA in 2008.
Williams cited Schneer for a spirited campaign. "I saw her everywhere, everywhere she should be, senior citizen dinners, barbecues, public events." he said. "I give her credit."
Schneer told reporters on election night she would return to private law practice in Rosendale.
In the race for county clerk, incumbent Republican Nina Postupack of Kingston enjoyed an unofficial margin of 9550 votes over Democratic challenger Gilda Riccardi of Saugerties, taking about 62 percent. Riccardi said she ran to give voters a choice in an office that had not had a competitive election in two generations.
Supreme Court judge candidate Gilpatric, a Kingston city judge, showed a better than two-to-one margin in Ulster County over Dunn, an Albany attorney, in unofficial returns in the Third Judicial District race. Gilpatric had 25,388 votes in Ulster to Dunn's 12,481. Gilpatric, reached on Wednesday, said unofficial returns from the seven counties in the Third Judicial District showed him with a near 20,000 vote margin. Heavily Democratic Albany County contributed 12,000 to that total, he said, but it was the hometown vote that meant the most.
"I was heartened that the people of Ulster County saw fit to reward me for my 30 years of service and that service outweighed some of my human frailties. I am not a perfect person, but I work very hard."
Gilpatric was referring to censures by the state commission on judicial conduct for drinking and failure to move cases.
The local Republicans did well, ousting Democrats from town boards in various local jurisdictions, notably, the town of Ulster. The Democrats have been gaining in party enrollment in Ulster County, but with the exception of the Kingston common council, it didn't translate into an election victory for them this Tuesday night.++
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© 2010 Ulster Publishing, Inc.
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