Millerton voters in record turnout reelect Mayor Jenn Najdek

Ed Stillman a village resident directs Millerton voters to the polls at the traffic light on Tuesday, June 20. Photo by Peter Greenough

MILLERTON —  On Tuesday, June 20, 208 Village of Millerton registered voters turned out, plus 13 absentee voters, to select a mayor and two trustees—a record number for a village election. in the last mayoral election in 2021, there were only 147 votes cast.

As of this writing, village clerk Lisa Cope has yet to issue an Official Certification of Election, but confirmed the election results. Jenn Najdek, the incumbent mayor and Democratic candidate, won a second term with 129 votes. Kelly Kilmer, the Republican challenger, received 69 votes on the Republican line and 14 on the “Working Together” independent line she created, for a total of 83 votes.

Three candidates ran for two trustee seats. Dave Sherman, the Republican candidate who, like Kilmer, created a nonpartisan independent party line (“Common Ground”), received 134 votes, with 104 on the Republican line and 29 on the Common Ground line. Lisa Erdner received 132 votes running only on the Democratic line. Ray Nelson, the only candidate who received the endorsement of both the Republican and Democratic parties, received a total of 108 votes—39 on the Democratic line and 69 votes on the Republican line.

The unofficial results were not announced until almost midnight after hand-counting the ballots. Edie Greenwood, head of the village Republicans, explained, “The counting had to be done carefully and then recounted.”

Democratic Party leader and former Mayor Debbie Middlebrook commented on the record turnout: “People had a choice. People were forced to pay attention and knew their vote would count.” Greenwood observed that, “This is democracy in a contested election.”

Poll watchers Edie Greenwood and Debbie Middlebrook waited until 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 20, as votes were counted in the Village of Millerton election. Photo by Peter Greenoug