Saland appears to be winner downstate

PHOTOGRAPHER: The Associated Press

Republican state Sen. Stephen Saland, who cast the critical vote a year to legalize gay marriage in New York, appears to have won a tight primary.

The Poughkeepsie Journal quotes local elections officials as saying Saland appears to have won enough absentee votes to end the count that followed the Sept. 13 primary.

Saland faced his first Republican primary when Neil DiCarlo of Brewster challenged him. The campaign focused on Saland’s vote in June 2011 to greatly expand gay marriage in the country.

In the 43rd Senate District recount in Saratoga County, Republican Sen. Roy McDonald trails Kathleen Marchione, the Saratoga County clerk. McDonald also supported gay marriage.

A third Republican senator who voted for gay marriage, Mark Grisanti of Buffalo, won his primary.