DUTCHESS COUNTY — There were not many surprises resulting from the Tuesday, June 28, Primary Election in New York State, according to those watching polling sites or most media outlets, especially when it came to who would fill out the ticket for the governor and lieutenant governor’s slot come November.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who stepped into the role after former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo left in disgrace mid-term amid allegations of sexual harassment, easily sailed to the top of that party’s ticket. She will be joined in the General Election by former U.S. Rep. and recently appointed Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, who will stand right by Hochul’s side.
Dems in the Empire State had three choices for both governor and for lieutenant governor. Hochul was up against U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY-3) from Long Island and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
In the lieutenant governor Primary, in addition to Delgado, registered Democratic voters could cast their ballots for Anna Maria Archula, a grassroots progressive leader, or for Diane Rennya, a former New York City councilmember and former deputy Brooklyn Borough president.
However, the majority backed the Hochul/Delgado ticket, as the Associated Press called the pair’s victory a mere 25 minutes after the polls closed last week.
It was a stamp of approval from the Democratic party on Hochul’s performance, with less than one year under her belt as governor — and barely more than a month on the job for her running mate.
Local ties
Delgado was the U.S. representative for residents right here in the Harlem Valley, part of New York’s 19th Congressional District. He had announced plans to seek his third, two-year term in office come November. Delgado was set to face off against Republican Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro, who remains in the race for both the old 19th District and the newly redrawn 19th District.
But then Delgado was appointed to the number two seat in the state on May 25 after his predecessor, former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, resigned amid another Albany controversy. Delgado is the now the third lieutenant governor to hold the position in less than a year.
Benjamin stepped down in April after being arrested for and indicted on bribery and fraud charges.
Delgado’s seat in the House of Representatives will be filled after a special election is held on Aug. 23 (the special election and the Congressional Primary election are both scheduled for the 23rd), between Republicans Molinaro and Brandon Buccola.
Democrats have selected Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan to run against whoever wins that race and then battle it out in the special election to finish Delgado’s term. Afterward, Ryan will then run for a full term in the newly-redrawn 18th Congressional District.
Once the 19th District is redrawn, three Dems will take a stab at grabbing the Congressional seat formerly held by Delgado. They include North East cattle farm owner, small businesswoman and former financier Jamie Cheney; Endicott born-attorney and former staff assistant to the late Congressman Maurice Hinchey Josh Riley; and Osun Zotique of Hudson, who would be the first openly trans, nonbinary person elected to a federal office if successful in following in Delgado’s footsteps.
The new 19th District will cover the Finger Lakes to the Southern Tier, parts of the lower Hudson Valley to Greene and Columbia Counties.
Assembly District 103
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Hudson Valley, Dean Michael lost the Republican primary on June 28. He was hoping to make his second run against New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett, who has held the office for the past decade. The town of Clinton councilman had unsuccessfully run against the long-time assemblymember previously on the GOP ticket.
Assembly District 106 includes parts of both Dutchess and Columbia Counties. In Dutchess, that includes Clinton, Hyde Park, Milan, North East, Pine Plains, Pleasant Valley, Town of Poughkeepsie, Stanford and Washington.
This March, rather than support Michael, the Dutchess County Republican Committee nominated Brandon Gaylord from Columbia County to challenge Barrett. Without the county GOP’s endorsement, Michael had to amass enough Republican signatures via petition to force a primary against Gaylord.
He was successful in doing so, and last Tuesday, 890 Columbia County Republicans voted for Gaylord, while only 358 voted for Michael. He fared better on his home turf; Michael earned 1,182 votes in Dutchess County, besting Gaylord, who received 902 votes, by 280 votes in Dutchess.
Still, it was Gaylord who won the most votes overall on Primary Day, with 1,792 Republican votes to Michael’s 1,540. Gaylord will therefore be on the November ballot against Barrett come Election Day.
There were early voting sites around the county for those who couldn’t make it to the polls on for the Primary. Early voting sites opened a week before the Primary Election, starting from Saturday, June 18, and running through the week until Sunday, June 26, with a local site at the Cornell Cooperative Center on Route 44 in Millbrook.
Dutchess County
Primary vote totals
The unofficial Democratic Primary election results in Dutchess County, according to the Dutchess County Board of Elections (BOE), for the governor’s race, were as follows: Suozzi received 1,041 votes; Hochul received 9,893 votes; Williams received 1,522 votes; and there were 33 write-in votes, for a total of 12,489 votes out of 12,590 cast.
For the Democratic Primary election, the Lt. Governor race results were as follows: Archila received 1,591 votes; Reyna received 681 votes; Delgado received 9,962 votes; and there were 14 write-in votes, for a total of 12,248 votes out of 12,590 cast.
For the unofficial Republican Primary election results in Dutchess County, the governor’s race results were as follows: Astorino received 3,267 votes; Giuliani received 2,120 votes; Wilson received 685 votes; Zeldin received 2,911 votes; and there were zero write-in votes, for a total of 817 votes out of 892 cast.
For the State Assembly race District 106 race, Gaylord received 902 votes; Michael received 1,182, votes; there were six write-in votes, for a total of 2,090 votes out of 2,626 cast.
The General Election is Tuesday, Nov. 8; go to www.elections.dutchessny.gov or call 845-486-2473.
Dave Jones, owner and chief mechanic at Lakeville Auto. Laurie Fendrich
The board’s job was to find savings — it found a school to close instead