Democrats hold on to minor party lines in city

PHOTOGRAPHER: Michael Lamendola

Attempts by Alliance Party candidates to wrest minor party lines from Democrats running for City Council and mayor in Schenectady fell short, according to unofficial results Tuesday night from the Schenectady County Board of Elections.

Official results will be posted in about two weeks; a total of 3,183 votes were cast Tuesday.

Acting Mayor Gary McCarthy received enough machine votes to counter write-in votes in the Conservative, Working Families and Independence Party primaries.

“It would appear I have commanding leads in all the primaries,” McCarthy said Tuesday night. “There are impressive margins across the board. My opponent tried to market this as a Democratic machine, but this is Conservatives, Independents and Working Families who have come out and supported myself and the rest of the Democratic ticket.”

In Independence Party and Working Families Party primaries, Democrats held on to their endorsements. Democrats who retained their Working Families line are Peggy King, Denise Brucker, Leesa Perazzo and John Mootooveren. Democrats who retained their Independence Party line are Brucker, Perazzo and Mootooveren.

In the Conservative primary, Heather Dukes, a Republican, appeared to have won the line with 70 votes while Phillip Tiberio, a Republican running with the Alliance Party endorsement, also appears to have won the line with 71 votes. The write-in vote totaled 74.

Democrats Mootooveren and Perazzo had the official endorsement, but they received 57 and 63 votes, respectively.

Candidates affiliated with the Alliance Party forced opportunity to ballot primaries for the Conservative, Independence and Working Families parties, hoping to gain an additional line or two going into the November general election. Roger Hull, who is running for mayor, heads the Alliance Party.

Also on the Alliance Party ticket for City Council are: Tiberio; Madrea Chaires, a Democrat who is not endorsed by her party; and Jacquie Hurd and Vince Riggi, both of whom are not registered with any major party. Republicans have endorsed Hull, Hurd, Riggi and Tiberio. Republicans are also running their own candidate, Dukes.

The opportunity to ballot meant voters had to write in the names of the Alliance Party candidates. County board of election commissioners called a write-in election one of the more challenging bids as voters have to correctly write in the candidate of choice.

County legislature

In primaries elsewhere, Democrats Angelo Santabarbara and Anthony Jasenski received the most votes in the Democratic primary for Schenectady County Legislature District 4, which consists of Rotterdam, Duanesburg and Princetown. They received 824 and 663 votes, respectively. They are seeking re-election. Democrat Robert J. Godlewski received 462 votes in the primary.

In the Conservative primary in Schenectady County Legislature District 3, Catherine A. Gatta, a Democrat, retained her endorsement against a write-in candidate. District 3 consists of Glenville and Niskayuna. She is running to fill a vacancy created when Democrat Susan Savage left the county Legislature to join the administration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

County Legislators Gary Hughes and Jeffrey McDonald, both Democrats seeking re-election, retained their Conservative Party lines in the Schenectady County Legislature District 2 primary. District 2 consists of the southern half of the city.

Santabarbara and Jasenski also kept their Conservative Party lines in the primary in Schenectady County Legislature District 4. They faced a challenge from Mark Viscusi.

In Rotterdam, Democrat Harry Buffardi won both the Democratic and the Conservative primaries for town supervisor. He faced a write-in challenge in the Democratic primary and faced current Supervisor Frank DelGallo in the Conservative primary. DelGallo is seeking re-election.

In the Democratic primary for Rotterdam Town Board, incumbent board member Wayne Calder and Mike Viscusi won. They also won the Conservative primary.

In Niskayuna, Town Supervisor Joe Landry won the Conservative primary versus a write-in challenge as did Democrats Town Board incumbents Liz Orzel Kasper and Julie M. McDonnell.