Smith vs. McConville

It’s now official—Donald Smith has won the Republican Primary for Sheriff of Putnam County.

Absentee ballots were counted on Tuesday night at the Board of Elections Office in Southeast and when the ballots were tabulated the two-term incumbent had outdistanced his challenger,

former Southeast Town Judge James Borkowski, by 233 votes. The tally: Smith—2,469, Borkowski—2,236, and Andrew DeStefano—380. On Primary night Smith led Borkowski by 169 votes with DeStefano, who withdrew from the race two weeks ago, but whose name remained on the ballot, receiving 347 votes.

The gap in the machine count increased this week to 185 votes as a result of a court-ordered recanvassing of all voting machines. In the absentee vote tally, Smith received 124 votes to Borkowski’s 76.

The Sheriff was pleased with the results, telling the Courier: “I have faith in the elections process and the citizens of Putnam County, as I believe they have faith in me. I strongly believe that the residents of our county have confidence in me to serve as their Sheriff as we continue to keep Putnam the safest county in the Hudson Valley.”

In conceding, Borkowski said all he wanted from the start was for “every vote to be counted. I am very satisfied with the accuracy of the new optical scan voting machines. All of the ballots have been counted, and I am pleased with the process. Unfortunately, Don Smith has won the Republican line. I congratulate him on that victory.”

When asked if he will continue his campaign running on the Working Families line, Borkowski said he was undecided: “A lot of people, including leaders in my Republican Party and other parties, have encouraged me to go on. I will take a few days before reaching my decision.”

The Working Families party, founded in New York in 1998, is closely aligned with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, which is under investigation in several states.

Smith now faces off against the Democratic challenger Kevin McConville. Reached at his residence in Cold Spring late Tuesday evening, McConville said he was looking forward to the general election so “I can demonstrate my professionalism and experience in managing a law enforcement agency for the residents of our county.”

Putnam County Elections Commissioners Robert Bennett and Anthony Scannapieco also announced the final results of other races with absentee ballots tabulated.

Republican Legislator Mary Conklin from Patterson faced a primary challenge from Democrat Mark Armon for the right to represent the Independence Party line. Armon received 44 votes while Conklin received 30 write-in votes.

Legislator Dan Birmingham of Brewster, a former deputy county executive, is seeking reelection without opposition.

In the Town of Carmel, Supervisor Kenneth Schmitt is facing opposition from Democrat David McKay Wilson. Both men squared off in a primary for the Independence Party endorsement. Schmitt defeated his challenger in the Independence Primary by garnering 81 write-in votes to Wilson’s 46.

The field for Carmel Town Board was crowded. Republicans Greg Ellner and Frank Lombardi were victorious over Allison Winstanley and former Putnam Legislator Robert McGuigan. With the absentee votes added Lombardi tallied 814 votes; Ellner received 653 votes; Winstanley received 579 votes, and Mc- Guigan came in fourth with 545 votes.

Yesterday afternoon, write-in votes were tabulated and McDonough received 84 votes, while Winstanley received 34 and Ellner tallied 6. Mc- Donough and Lombardi are the Independence Party candidates in November.

Kent Supervisor Katherine Doherty in running unopposed in November while Town Clerk Yolanda Cappelli faced a write-in campaign from Democrat Joseph Greco. Cappelli received 12 Independence Line votes while Greco received none.

Five people were running for two Kent Justice seats: Incumbents Peter Collins and Joseph Esposito faced challenges from Kevin Douchkoff, Maureen Fleming and Philip Marin. Collins and Douchkoff were both victorious on the GOP as well as the Democratic lines.

A scorecard was also needed to sort out candidates seeking two Kent Town Board seats. Incumbents Karl Rohde and Lou Tartaro faced challenges from Edward Durkee, Jeff Green, John Greene, and Thomas Maxson. Greene and Tartaro were the victors in the GOP Primary while Green and Durkee took the Democratic lines. On the Independence Line, Maxson received 20 writein votes, Tartaro 18, and Greene tallied 5. However, Jeff Green and Edward Durkee will be the Independence candidates on Election Day.

Kent’s Receiver of Taxes Jean Johnson was challenged by Joyce Mitchell in an Independence Party Primary. Mitchell received 48 votes while Johnson received 19 write-in votes.

Kent Highway Superintendent Anthony Caravetta faced an uphill challenge from Paul Roncallo. The incumbent defeated the party backed candidate in a Democratic Primary 339-162. He also received 56 votes in an Independence Party Primary while Roncallo received 8 votes and the Republican candidate, Cris Dellaripa, received 11.

In Patterson, four candidates are vying for two seats on the Patterson Town Board—Kevin Burns, Ernest Kassay, Councilwoman Ginny Nacerino, and Patricia Ploeger. Burns and Ploeger received 51 and 50 votes respectively in an Independence Party Primary. However, Nacerino received 52 write-ins in what she called an “impressive grassroots effort,” while Kassay tallied 32 votes. Councilwoman Nacerino and Burns will be the Independence Party line candidates in November.

Patterson Town Judge John King is running unopposed this year but Receiver of Taxes Sally Parfitt is being challenged by Nanci Kalbfell. Parfitt received 71 votes in an Independence Primary while Kalbfell received 30 write-in votes.

In Philipstown, two candidates are running for supervisor—Republican Matthew Mastrantone and Democrat Richard Shea.

Four candidates are seeking two town board seats—Democrats Betty Budney and John VanTassel and Republicans Joselle Cunane and Theresa Polhemus.

Philipstown Assessor Brian Kenney is running unopposed.

Putnam Valley Supervisor Robert Tendy is facing opposition from Democrat Dawn Powell.

Six candidates vied for two seats on the Putnam Valley Town Board—Republicans Jacqueline Annabi and Patty Villanova were victorious along with Democrats Christopher Lieberman and Wendy Whetsel. With absentee ballots added in Tuesday, Annabi received 254 votes, Villanova-233, and Esther McHenry came in third with 231 votes.

Lieberman received 245 votes, Whetsel 250 votes, and the third Democrat in the race, Samuel Davis, tallied 116 votes.

Putnam Valley Justice Gina Capone is seeking reelection without opposition, while Highway Superintendent Earl Smith is facing an Independence Party line challenge from Mark Pawera.

In Southeast, four candidates sought two seats on the Town Board to replace Richard Honeck and Paul Johnson, who have decided to retire. Republicans Elizabeth Hudak and Robert Cullen were victorious, defeating Joseph DePaola and Matt Neuringer. With the absentee ballots added in, Hudak tallied 1017 votes, Cullen received 893, while DePaola received 545 votes, and Neuringer came in fourth with 507. Independence Party write-ins tabulated yesterday gave 40 additional votes to Hudak, 42 to DePaola, and 35 to Cullen. Hudak and DePaola will represent the Independence Party on the ballot in November.

Southeast’s town justices Gregory Folchetti and Richard Vercollone are running without opposition in November while the Southeast Highway Superintendent’s race pits Kevin Palmer against Michael Bruen.