Nov. 7 election outcomes leave seats to fill

DUTCHESS COUNTY —  The Dutchess County Board of Elections posted certified results on its website on Friday, Dec. 8, the last possible day for votes to be certified under state election law.

There was no change to the final outcomes of close races in Pine Plains or Amenia from the initial unofficial results announced Nov. 10. The certified results also confirm that there is a town board seat to fill in both Amenia and North East.

In Amenia, incumbent Democrat and longtime Town Board member Vicki Doyle lost her seat to newcomer Paul Winters by ten votes instead of eight votes. 

Write-in results for Amenia town supervisor were revealed in the certification process with 122 votes for Munawar Ahmed, the candidate known for her “Anybody But Leo” signs. It is possible that the write-in votes she received affected the outcome of the supervisor race between Leo Blackman and incumbent Victoria Perotti, which Blackman won by 26 votes. 

Ahmed commented: “I’ve had many individuals walk up to me to let me know that they voted for me because I represent ‘real change.’ Republicans, Conservatives, Democrats, Independents, Working Family — these folks seemed spread across the political spectrum.”

Blackman agreed: “It’s unclear who voted for Ahmed. I’m not sure of her impact — some theorize she took liberal votes from me; others, MAGA votes from Victoria. With no polling, we really don’t know.”

In the Town of North East, the election for the two four-year term town board seats installed Lana Morrison (R) and Meg Winkler (D), who was not supposed to be on the ballot for that four-year seat, but for a different one. 

The ballot errors caused the defeat of Republican Chris Mayville, who would have been running unopposed. 

The one-year, unexpired term seat for which Winkler was running had no candidates listed on the ballot, and write-ins went to Winkler. Because she’s accepted the four-year seat, the unexpired term seat is open for the board to fill.

The next step for Amenia and North East is for the town boards to invite anyone interested in serving to submit a letter and qualifications to their board. Board members will then interview prospective candidates and make recommendations to their respective board. Both town boards will vote on the position at their first regular meeting in January, Amenia’s on Jan. 4 and North East’s on Jan. 11. 

In Amenia, two Democrats and two Republicans will decide who will fill the seat vacated by Leo Blackman when he was elected supervisor. It’s possible they will choose to restore former Deputy Supervisor Vicki Doyle to the board.

Of herself, Ahmed said, “It is highly doubtful I will be nominated for a board seat.”

Amenia Town Board member-elect Winters said “there are three requirements that I believe that any replacement would need: institutional knowledge of how Amenia government works, knowledge of existing lawsuits, and the ability and want to represent the entire community equally.

“I have spoken with both Damian Gutierrez and Victoria Perotti and they have both agreed to step up and fill that position for one year and then step away to allow new candidates to run for the seat. I have not spoken directly with Mrs. Doyle about her willingness as she has not reached out to me.”

While the North East Town Board could nominate Republican Chris Mayville to fill the one-year seat, Town Supervisor Chris Kennan indicated his intention to announce the vacancy, ask town residents interested in being appointed to the board to let him know, and to fill the seat at the first regular board meeting of 2024 on Thursday, Jan. 11. 

Kennan also commented that he “would miss having John Midwood on the board, who has contributed to the board’s work in many different ways over the past eight years that he has served as a councilman, in particular his work on making our board meetings more accessible to the public by livestreaming our board meetings, and updating the town’s website.”

In the Pine Plains race for town assessor, no candidates were listed on the ballot.  Four different people received one write-in vote each, so there is no winner of that race.

The more than four weeks’ delay in certification by the Dutchess County Board of Elections was the result of the many close races in Fishkill and Poughkeepsie. If the margin between two candidates is less than 20 votes or .5%, a hand count of the ballots is required before all final county results are certified.

The hand count is conducted by a four-person team of two Democrats and two Republicans on the staff of the Board of Elections. One examines the ballot and calls out the winner while another watches, and one records the result while being observed by the other party representative.