GHENT–Unofficial results from Tuesday’s local elections show incumbent Columbia County Sheriff David Bartlett (R) easily won a second four-year term running against Chatham Police Chief Peter Volkmann (D).
In the other countywide race this year, Dr. Andrea “Cricket” Coleman won by over 2,000 votes in her race against former Germantown Supervisor Roy Brown (R) for a vacant position as one of three county coroners.
All vote counts are unofficial and are from the machine vote tallies on November 7. They do not include absentee ballots or write-in candidates.
In other races, incumbent Claverack Supervisor Kippy Weigelt, a Republican, defeated his Democratic opponent Laura Miller by 1,097 votes to 655.
It appears there will be a change of leadership in the Town of Greenport, where Democratic challenger Kathy Leck Eldridge received 588 votes Election Day against incumbent Edward F Nabozny, a member of the Independence Party also running on the Republican line. He received 547 votes.
Among the winners in Hudson was community activist and former mayoral candidate Linda Mussmann, running on the Democratic line for the seat on the county Board of Supervisors from the 4th Ward. She soundly defeated William Hughes Jr., also a Democrat and the current minority leader of the board, by a vote of 201 to 88.
In Stuyvesant, incumbent Republican Supervisor Ron Knott easily won reelection in his race against Democratic candidate Edward “Ned” Depew.
Separate ballot propositions for public Library funding increases passed with strong support from voters in the City of Hudson and in Claverack. The Hudson Area Library also sought more support from Greenport, but voters there rejected the request by less than 20 votes, in a 51%-to-49% split.
County voters turned thumbs down on the proposal for a state constitutional convention, rejecting it with 15,145 No votes to a mere 2,458. Statewide, the measure was rejected by an equally resounding margin. Two other statewide ballot propositions did meet with voter approval here and in the state too, one on allowing judges to revoke the state pensions of officials convicted of certain felonies, and the other to allow land swaps in the forever wild state forest for certain public projects.
In the contest for state Supreme Court Justice for the multi-county 3rd Judicial District, Ulster County attorney Julian Schreibman won by a slim margin in the county over Peter G. Crummy. At press deadline the district-wide outcome of that race was not determined.
Columbia County 2017 Election Results
(Unofficial results for contested races only)
3rd Judicial District
Supreme Court Justice
(vote tally for Columbia County only)
DEM, WOR/ Julian D Schreibman 8,488
REP, CON, IND, REF/ Peter G Crummey 8,413
County Sheriff
DEM, WOR, WEP/ Peter Volkmann 7,761
REP, CON, IND, REF/ David P Bartlett 10,279
Coroner
DEM, WOR, WEP/ Andrea “Cricket” Coleman 9,511
REP, CON, IND/ Roy Brown 7,784
Hudson
Citywide
Proposal Four
Library funding
Yes 1,009
No 417
Ward 2 Supervisor
DEM, REP, CON, IND/ Abdus Miah 148
WOR/ Willette M Jones 43
Ward 2 Alderman (Vote for 2)
DEM, WOR/ Tiffany M Garriga 168
DEM, IND/ Dewan A Sarowar 144
REP, CON/ Martin Martinez 51
WOR/ Victor Mendolia 102
Ward 4 Supervisor
DEM, WOR, IND, Bottom Line/ Linda Mussmann 201
REP, CON/ William Hughes Jr 88
Ward 4 Alderman (Vote for 2)
DEM/ Rich “Trixie” Volo 197
DEM/ John Rosenthal 196
REP, CON/ Lauren Scalera 107
Ward 5 Alderman (Vote for 2)
DEM, REP, CON/ Dominic Merante 247
DEM/ Eileen Halloran 200
REP, CON/ Robert J Donahue Sr 156
Ancram
Council (Vote for 2)
DEM/ Bonnie Hundt 195
DEM/ Madeleine Israel 196
REP/ Marie A McDermott 172
REP, CON/ William J Broe 162
CON/ Daniel C Rothvoss 37
Austerlitz
Council (Vote for 2)
DEM, WOR/ Greg Vogler 355
DEM/ Christopher Schober 414
REP/ Jack Howes 233
Highway Supt.
DEM/ Robert A Meehan Jr 337
REP, CON/ Robin Howes 262
Canaan
(no contested races)
Chatham
Council (Vote for 2)
DEM, Chatham Citizens/ John Wapner 754
DEM, Chatham Citizens/ Kevin Weldon 744
REP, CON, IND/ Michael R Blasl 649
REP, CON, IND/ Henry Swartz Jr 662
Claverack
Proposal Four
Library funding
Yes 1,014
No 683
Supervisor
DEM, Claverack Party/ Laura Miller 655
REP, CON, IND/ Kippy Weigelt 1,097
Clerk/Tax Collector
DEM, Claverack Party/ Joanna Tipple
REP, CON, IND/ Mary J Hoose
Council (Vote for 2)
DEM, Claverack Party/ Dave Baylen 636
DEM, Claverack Party/ Stephen King 625
REP, CON, IND/ Stephen “Hookie” Hook 1,061
REP, CON, IND/ Brian Keeler 1,123
Clermont
Council (Vote for 2)
DEM, Clermont First/ Sara Takacs 200
DEM, REP, CON, IND/ Robert G Desmond 389
REP, CON, IND/ Kris Gildersleeve 270
Copake
Council (Vote for 2)
DEM, WOR/ Jeanne E Mettler 547
DEM/ Richard T Wolf 434
REP, CON/ Andrew Fisher 335
REP, CON, IND/ Terry Sullivan 506
Justice
DEM/ Jeffrey Judd 334
REP, CON, IND/ Glenn Schermerhorn 620
Gallatin
(no contested races)
Germantown
Council (Vote for 2)
DEM/ Tony Albino 318
DEM/ Don Westmore 323
REP, CON, IND/ Austin Sullivan 422
REP, CON, IND/ John Kukon 391
Ghent
(no contested races)
Greenport
Proposal Four
Library funding
Yes 549
No 568
Supervisor
DEM, WOR, IND/ Kathy Leck Eldridge 588
REP, CON, REF/ Edward F Nabozny 547
Council (Vote for 2)
DEM, WOR, IND/ Janice M Brodowski 931
DEM, WOR, IND/ Carol Peckham 694
REP/ Anthony J Rocha Sr 450
REP, CON/ Clayton Clark Jr 838
Hillsdale
Council (Vote for 2)
DEM/ Thomas P Carty 348
DEM/ Gillian Sims-Elster 313
REP/ Carmen Barbato 263
Kinderhook
Council (Vote for 2)
DEM, Good For Kinderhook/ Jake Samascott 1,504
DEM, Good For Kinderhook/ Bernadette Powis 1,189
REP, CON, IND, REF/ Patsy Leader 1,593
REP, CON, IND, REF/ Sally Hogan 1,549
Livingston
Council (Vote for 2)
DEM/ Lewis Dimm 407
DEM/Natalie Sosnowski 371
REP/ Philip J Massaro 478
REP/ Thomas J Shumsky 538
Justice
DEM/ Stanley O Yarian 426
REP/ Angela Marie Guzzi 466
New Lebanon
(no contested races)
Stockport
(no contested races)
Stuyvesant
Supervisor
DEM, WOR/ Edward “Ned” Depew 248
REP, CON, IND/ Ron Knott 414
Clerk/Tax Collector
DEM, WOR/ Leigh Widjeskog 244
REP, CON, IND/ Melissa A Naegeli 423
Council (Vote for 2)
DEM, WOR/ William Schneider 299
DEM, WOR/ Lee Jamison 267
REP/ Robert T Baumeister 304
REP, CON, IND/ Brian Chittenden 368
Justice (Vote for 2)
DEM/ Melanie Donahoe 243
DEM/ Nancy P Thomas 228
REP, IND/ William T Vick Sr 367
REP, CON, IND/ Carrie A O’Hare 412
Taghkanic
Council (Vote for 2)
DEM, WOR/ Joyce Thompson 242
DEM, WOR/ Linda Swartz 335
REP, CON, IND/ Royce G Noblin Jr 183
Highway Supt.
DEM, REP/ George Hotaling 281
CON, IND/ Melvin W Stoddard Jr 127
Statewide Ballot Proposals
(vote tallies for Columbia County only)
Proposal Number One
Constitutional Convention
Yes 2,458
No 15,145
Proposition Number 2
Allowing the complete or partial forfeiture of a public officer’s pension if he or she is convicted of a certain type of felony
Yes 14,549
No 2,949
Proposal Number 3
Authorizing the use of Forest Preserve Land for Specified Purposes
Yes 10,426
No 6,782