Local libraries win big at polls across northeast Dutchess

Democrats had a strong showing across northeast Dutchess County, with democratic candidates winning both seats in the Washington and Pine Plains Town Council races and an upset victory in the race to represent District 25 in the County Legislature.

Voters also overwhelmingly supported local libraries. Ballot questions to increase the budgets of the NorthEast-Millerton Library, Amenia Free Library, Pine Plains Free Library and Stanford Free Library all passed.

“I wanted to come out and support the library,” said Leslie Farhangi of North East, referencing a NorthEast-Millerton Library budget increase on the ballot. “It’s always heartwarming to see the community come out to vote, and the poll workers are great, I’m always grateful for them.”

Poll workers and voters said turnout was higher than usual early in the afternoon. In Amenia, 404 votes had been cast by 1:30 p.m. when The News checked in.

“I think it’s always important to vote,” said Ed Downey, President of the North East Historical Society. “At the town level, the races can be uncontested but it’s still important to vote. And there are certainly contested races at the county level. The library budget is very important. It looks like a good turnout. I was pleasantly surprised to see so much participation, especially this early.”

Here's a breakdown of the results:

North East

Incumbent Republican Chris Mayville and Democrat Rachele Grieco Cole will each serve a two-year term on the Town Council following uncontested races.

Katherine Johnson ran unopposed for re-election as Town Assessor and will serve an additional six-year term.

Casey McCabe also ran unopposed for re-election as Town Justice. She will serve a four-year term on the bench.

The proposition to increase the NorthEast-Millerton LIbrary's operating budget by $50,000 to a total of $225,000 passed with 587 yes votes and 169 no votes.

Amenia

Democrat Rosanna Hamm won the Town Supervisor race with 686 votes. Republican Terrence McCauley had 402 votes. Hamm currently serves on the Town Council as Deputy Supervisor.

Republican Nicole Ahearn with 574 votes and Democrat Walter Dietrich with 527 votes will fill the two open seats on the Amenia Town Council, serving two-year terms. Democrat Charlie Miller came in a close third with 525 votes and Republican Brad Rebillard trails the race with 464 votes.

Democrat Vicki Doyle will serve the remaining year of an unexpired term on the Town Council, winning 625 votes to beat Republican Jamie Deines's 446 votes.

Town Clerk Dawn Marie Klingner, Highway Superintendent Megan Chamberlin and Town Justice Christopher Klingner will all retain their seats after uncontested races.

The local proposal to increase the Amenia Free Library's operating budget by $20,000 passed with 690 yes votes and 394 no votes.

The local proposition to opt-in to retail cannabis sales failed with 515 yes votes and 560 no votes.

And the third local proposition to increase the term length of the Town Supervisor to four years failed with 446 yes votes and 631 no votes.

Washington

Republican Gary Ciferri will continue to serve as Town Supervisor following an uncontested election.

Democrats Maxine Verne and Susan Mancuso will each serve two-year terms on the Town Council following their victory over Republicans Nicholas Galente and Douglas Giles.

Theodore Briggs will serve on the Village of Millbrook Board of Trustees following an uncontested race.

Pine Plains

Incumbent Republican candidate Brian Walsh holds a narrow lead in the race for Town Supervisor with 423 votes to Democrat challenger Kevin Walsh's 414 votes. That's a margin of only nine votes. The New York State Election Law requires a recount for races with a margin of 20 votes or less.

Democrats Trevor Roush and Murphy Birdsall will each serve on the Town Council, winning 447 and 406 votes respectively to beat Republicans Robert Ambrose and David Prentice. Prentice trailed Birdsall by just 20 votes with 386 total.

The proposition to increase the Pine Plains Free Library's operating budget to $220,000 passed with 572 yes votes — a staggering 68.7% — and 261 no votes.

Stanford

Democrat Julia Descouteaux won the Town Supervisor seat with 798 votes. Republican Michael Roche claimed 575 votes.

Democrats Teddy Secor and Charlie Cunningham secured seats on the Town Council, beating Republican opponents Durga Taylor and Frank Marcin for two-year terms on the board.

Ritamary Bell will continue to serve as Town Clerk following an uncontested election. James Myers was also re-elected as Highway Superintendent — and Town Justice Dennis Smith will serve another term — after uncontested races.

The proposition to increase the Stanford Free Library's budget to $200,400 passed with 1,053 yes votes and 283 no votes.

County races

Incumbent Chris Drago, D-19, won his re-election bid to the Dutchess County Legislature. He accumulated 2,359 votes to Republican challenger Tonya Pulver's 1,584 votes. He will serve a second two-year term representing the towns of North East, Pine Plains, Stanford and Milan.

Democrat Eric Alexander won a slim upset victory against incumbent Republican Deirdre Houston in the race for the district 25 county legislature seat. Houston served in the legislature for eight years and was re-elected four times in a row. Alexander is a newcomer to county politics. Alexander leads with 1,746 votes — about 50.6% — to Houston's 1,705 votes — 49.4%. Alexander will serve a two-year term representing the towns of Amenia, Washington and southeast Pleasant Valley.

Democratic incumbent Dan Aymar-Blair won the county comptroller race. Preliminary results from the Dutchess County Board of Elections show Aymar-Blair won 55% of the vote to defeat Republican challenger Will Truitt. Aymar-Blair won a total of 40,159 votes and Truitt secured 32,814 votes.

Democrat Kara Gerry won the county court judge race, marking an upset defeat of incumbent Republican Ned McLoughlin. Gerry leads with 56% of the vote — a total of 40,745 votes — to McLoughlin's 44% — a total of 32,047. McLoughlin served as court judge since 2015 when he was first elected to a ten-year term.

Tracy MacKenzie, who ran unopposed for Dutchess County Family Court Judge, will retain her seat. She's served on that bench since 2015 and will serve another 10 year term.