GHENT–Julian Schreibman won the Democratic primary in the new 19th Congressional District and will challenge incumbent Republican Congressman Chris Gibson in the November election.
Mr. Schreibman, an Ulster County lawyer, received the votes of 59% of the Democrats who went to the polls Tuesday, June 26. His opponent was Dutchess County legislator and teacher Joel Tyner.
The 19th District includes all of Columbia County and all or parts of 10 other counties, mostly in the Hudson Valley and Catskills, but extending north into Rensselaer County.
The only other primary in the county in this round–there was a presidential primary in April and there will be primaries for state and local offices in September–was the race for the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate. In that race county GOP voters followed the trend statewide and chose New York City lawyer Wendy Long. She will run against incumbent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
Mr. Schreibman, 39, a former federal prosecutor, assistant district attorney and assistant general counsel at the Central Intelligence Agency, won the Democratic vote in Columbia County by more than his margin districtwide. With all districts reporting, the unofficial count in Columbia County was 857 votes for Schreibman and 381 for Tyner, which comes out to 70% of the primary voters.
Mr. Schreibman was endorsed by Congressman Maurice Hinchey, the progressive Democrat who currently represents the 22nd District, which was carved up to create the 19th and other congressional districts in the redistricting process that concluded earlier this year. Mr. Hinchey, who has been in Congress since 1993, did not seek reelection.
Mr. Gibson, a first term Republican who lives in Kinderhook, did not face a primary challenge.
Mr. Tyner, 48, entered the race last summer, much earlier than Mr. Schreibman. Although he was a vigorous campaigner, he could not muster the support of the party nor was he able to raise the funds to mount a campaign. Just days before the primary vote, his campaign treasurer resigned, trading accusations with Mr. Tyner.
Mr. Schreibman, the former chairman of the Ulster County Democratic Committee, had the support of party leaders throughout the district. He was also able to tap into his own financial resources, and the Times Union newspaper in Albany reported last week the majority of his campaign funds as of the last campaign filing came from outside the district.
The population center of the 19th District, which is mostly rural and suburban, is in Ulster County. That county was not part of the 20th District, which Mr. Gibson represents until the end of this year. Unlike the sizeable enrollment margin the GOP holds in the 20th, the new 19th has a smaller Republican plurality and a large bloc of independent voters.
In the race for the Senate GOP line, Ms. Long won easily in a three-way race. She had nearly 51% of the vote statewide ahead of Bob Turner (36%) and George Maragos (13%). In this county Ms. Long’s victory was even more lopsided. She had 533 votes, or two-thirds of the Republicans who participated in the primary, compared to 191 votes for Mr. Turner and 44 for Mr. Maragos.
