Incumbent supervisor ousted in Milton GOP primary

PHOTOGRAPHER: Lee Coleman

Daniel P. Lewza won a convincing primary victory Tuesday defeating current Milton Town Supervisor Frank D. Thompson and assuring that Lewza will be elected the next town supervisor in November.

The unofficial tally in the Republican supervisor race was Lewza 1,012 votes to Thompson’s 671.

Lewza said he was excited that the effort he and his 20-person committee put into the election race has paid off.

“We went door to door every night,” Lewza said. He said he appreciated the support he received from the voters in Milton.

Thompson, 64, who is vice chairman of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors, did not receive the backing of the town GOP.

Lewza, 41, who has worked as chief of staff for two Republican assemblymen in recent years, had already secured the Independence and Conservative ballot lines.

Thompson, who has been Milton supervisor for eight years, has no other ballot line, so his name will not appear on the general election ballot in November for town supervisor.

“I’m disappointed,” Thompson said after the polls closed. He said he didn’t think he would run again.

“I’ve had it up to my ears with politics,” Thompson said. He said he heard that the Saratoga County Republican Committee spent many thousands of dollars on Lewza’s campaign.

The Milton primary race was closely watched because of Thompson’s high position in county government and his estranged wife’s recent admission to a felony theft charge.

In other races, longtime Wilton Town Justice John J. Wood was defeated easily by former Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department investigator David Towne in a Republican primary as well as in Independence and Conservative party primaries. With almost 90 percent of the votes counted Towne had 619 votes to Wood’s 368.

Political newcomer John J. Lant appeared on the way to victory in the Republican primary for one of two Town Board seats. Lant had 716 votes to incumbent Town Board member Charles Gerber’s 396. Town Board candidate Steven C. Streicher appears to have secured the other Town Board nomination with 495 votes with 87 percent of the vote counted.

Primaries for elected offices in other towns, including:

* Clifton Park: Longtime Town Justice Robert Rybak defeated challenger Joseph C. Berger 38 votes to 25 votes in Conservative primary and 63 to 22 votes in the Independence Party primary.

* Corinth: Republican Town Clerk Rose E. Farr was leading challenger Cheri A. Sullivan 153 votes to 63 votes with 60 percent of the vote counted.

* Edinburg: Wayne D. Seelow, with 144 votes, was the unofficial winner of the Republican primary for highway superintendent with Robert A. Vandenburg, with 123 votes, and M. Dennis Driscoll with 32 votes. The incumbent, Marvin Wilson, is retiring.

* Hadley: Charles E. Ovitt Jr., with 114 votes, and Colleen DeMarsh, with 117 votes, secured the two nominations for Town Board. Candidate Donald C. Monica received 91 votes.

* Providence: Republican Town Clerk Susan Wemple, with 180 votes, defeated challenger Christine M. DeCristofaro, with 71 votes.

* Saratoga: Republican Highway Superintendent David F. Hall, with 184 votes, lost to challenger Donald R. Ormsby Jr., who had 255 votes.

* Stillwater: John F. VanAmburg, with 4 votes, was defeated by Michael H. Zurlo, with 22 votes, for the Independence nomination for town justice. Zurlo is also the Republican nominee for the justice seat.

* Ballston: Supervisor Patti Southworth led in the run for the Independence Party line in November’s election, facing Pete Connors and Arnold Palmer.