Cherry to Seek New Term as Treasurer

County Treasurer William Cherry has announced that he will seek another term in office. Writing to taxpayers, the Treasurer wrote that there was still much work to be done that he believes will be accomplished over the next four years.

Cherry cites the fact that Schoharie County was one of the few debt-free counties in the state before the flood. His changes to the budget process allowed for a much smaller than average debt load and built up a reserve that allowed the County to pay for flood damage and emergency actions.

Listing challenges ahead, Cherry cites the need for FEMA funding for a new jail and communications center. He also writes about the need for local jobs, including the recent agreement to sell Guilford Mills and place several hundred jobs at the facility.

Cherry writes, "My unblemished 20-year record of protecting and safeguarding the taxpayer
dollars that are placed in my care is perhaps my proudest accomplishment."

The Treasurer's position is up for election in November. There are no other declared candidates as of yet.

Remember to Register to Vote! How to Register in this Article

It is a bit late to register for this year's ballot, but it is important for everyone to register and get out and vote.

• Be a citizen of the United States.
• Be a resident of the county at least 30 days before an election.
• Be 18 years old by December 31 of the year in which you register to vote (Note: You must be 18 years old by the date of the general, primary, or other election in which you want to vote).
• Not be in jail or on parole for a felony conviction.
• Not currently be judged incompetent by order of a court of competent judicial authority.
• Not claim the right to vote elsewhere.

You can register in person at the Schoharie County Building on Main Street in Schoharie. See here for more information.

You can find the paper copy of the registration form here. Print it out and mail it in to the address on the bottom and you're all set.

You can also fill out a form online here.

Good luck and happy voting!

Cuomo Wins Bruising Primary Challenge Statewide, Loses Schoharie in Landslide

Governor Andrew Cuomo, who recently polled a 16% approval rating in Schoharie County, warded off a serious challenge in Tuesday's Democratic Party primary against Zephyr Teachout, who ran an inexpensive insurgent campaign.

With almost 95% of the ballots counted, it was:

Cuomo (inc.): 61.8%
Teachout: 34.5%
Credico: 3.7%

In Schoharie County, Teachout won in a landslide:

Teachout: 71.1% - 361
Cuomo: 24.6% - 125
Credico: 4.3% - 22

Teachout's percentage was third-highest in Schoharie County, trailing only Columbia County's 77.9% and Otsego County's 72.7%.

Republican candidate Rob Astorino won the primary, running unopposed.

National Attention on Gibson Race

The race between incumbent Congressman Chris Gibson and his likely opponent Sean Eldridge is already making waves. National columnist George Will penned a column last month in the Washington Post regarding the two candidates, especially the 27-year old Eldridge.

 An interesting column, Will discusses both candidates and focuses on the challenger:

Eldridge, 27, is married to Chris Hughes, 30, who bought the New Republic magazine — founded 100 years ago this year as a voice of progressivism — with a portion of the fortune he made as co-founder of Facebook. Eldridge, who wants to bring his own progressivism to Congress by beating Gibson, grew up in Ohio, graduated from Brown University, attended but did not graduate from Columbia Law School, founded a venture capital firm and went looking for a receptive congressional district outside New York City. The first one where he and his husband bought a residence turned out to be politically problematic, so they kept that residence and bought another (supplementing their Manhattan apartment) in the 19th District.

Two Seeking Village Trustee in Middleburgh

With final petitions due on Tuesday, February 11th at the Middleburgh Village Hall, there are currently two candidates collecting signatures to run for the two expiring Trustee seats in the Village of Middleburgh's March 18th election. 

Sheryl Adams, who was appointed to fill Mayor Matthew Avitabile's Trustee seat in 2012, and was subsequently elected to the Village Board on her own right last year, picked up her petition in mid January in hopes of securing a second term. She is also a member of the Middleburgh Renaissance Council. 

Political newcomer Lillian Bruno, who is a Village-appointed member of the CRP Committee that is reviewing $12 million in Restore NY funds for the Schoharie Valley, has also securing a nominating petition. She is running to replace Deputy Mayor Thomas Gruning, who is retiring from public office. 

Both candidates are running under the Middleburgh First Party banner, which was founded by then Village Trustee Matthew Avitabile in 2006, and currently has control of the entire Village Board after a string of successful election showings. 

Smith, Skowfoe and Bleau Victorious in Supervisor Races; Conesville Still Without Highway Superintendent

The Schoharie County Board of Elections convened yesterday morning for almost four hours to count hundreds of leftover absentee, affidavit and military ballots in all sixteen towns from November fifth's off-year election. Voters in the Towns of Blenheim, Fulton and Wright finally learned who they elected as their respective Town Supervisor, while the final results in Conesville left residents still without an elected Highway Superintendent heading into the new year.

Blenheim
 

One of the three too close to call Town Supervisor races was decided just five minutes into this morning's count, with Democratic challenger Sean Smith winning seven of nine absentee ballots and Blenheim's top job over twenty-year incumbent Republican Robert Mann Jr. Mr. Smith received plenty of well wishes and support from members of the county board and other officials in attendance.
 

Conesville
 

The biggest surprise of the morning came from the Town of Conesville's Highway Superintendent election between Stephen Young and Larry Brandow, with Mr. Young heading into the day with what was thought a safe eleven vote lead with twenty-nine ballots yet to be opened. However, as luck would have it, Mr. Brandow carried the absentee and affidavit count overwhelmingly by a decisive 20-9 spread, which resulted in the two candidates ending the day with 154 votes apiece. 

Fulton

 

Entering the morning not knowing whether he would retain his position as Town Supervisor in Fulton, let alone the Chairmanship of the county board, incumbent Democrat Phil Skowfoe nervously paced back and forth across the Board of Supervisors chambers as he and his Republican challenger Francis Tatten awaited the results of their highly competitive race, of which the difference was only two votes in the incumbent's favor. With twenty-seven ballots to count Mr. Skowfoe needed only thirteen of them to claim victory, instead he received sixteen and a narrow seven vote victory to boot.

Wright
 

Roughly two dozen observers waited out the remaining eight towns to hear who would win Wright's contest between Democrat Karl Remmers and Republican Amber Bleau, where the Democrat held a three vote lead on election night with forty-five ballots left to count. As anticipation built amongst the audience, the machine decided not to work - delaying the final process for almost five excruciatingly long minutes - which was followed by the Deputy on patrol accidentally turning off the room's lights, adding to the anxiety of everyone in attendance. But after all was said and done, Ms. Bleau carried the absentee and affidavit ballots 26-18 over Mr. Remmers, winning the election by five votes and finally ending the Town of Wright's ten month long lack of representation on the county board.

 

New County Board's Weighted Vote Totals by Party, Faction

As asked for by our readers, we are happy to bring you the totals of the weighted votes controlled by the Democrats and Republicans and those that were endorsed by the Conservative Party or not.

Democrats and Republicans, * Denotes Conservative Party Backing

Cobleskill - 481 (16.2%) (R)

Middleburgh - 352 (11.8%) (D)

Schoharie - 326 (11%) (D)

Richmondville - 241 (8.1%) (R)

Esperance - 204 (6.9%) (R)

Sharon Springs - 184 (6.2%) (D)

Carlisle - 176 (5.9%) (R)

Seward - 164 (5.5%) (D)

Wright -155 (5.2%) (R)*

Jefferson - 129 (4.3%) (R)

Fulton - 127 (4.3%) (D)

Gilboa - 122 (4.1%) (R)

Summit - 112 (3.8%) (R)*

Broome - 95 (3.2%) (R)

Conesville - 73 (2.5%) (R)

Blenheim - 33 (1.1%) (D)

Total Democrats: 6 seats- 1186: 39.9%
Total Republicans: 10 seats- 1788: 60.1%
Total: 2974

Total Non-Conservative: 14 seats- 2704: 91.0%
Total Conservative: 2 seats- 267: 9.0%
Total: 2974



Town of Wright Final Elections Results

The Town of Wright has not seen a Supervisor since the death of Bill Goblet. The infighting left Amber Bleau as de facto Supervisor, unable to represent the Town at the County level. On election night Mr. Remmers led by a scant three votes. However, with over two-dozen absentee ballots left to count, Ms. Bleau wound up with the lead.

Bleau (R-C)- 343: 50.4%
Remmers (D)- 338: 49.6%

It is unclear if there were any affidavit ballots counted in this race but it was the closest in recent memory.

Skowfoe Wins in Fulton

Incumbent Fulton Supervisor Phil Skowfoe has pulled out a dramatic victory in the Town of Fulton race. In the first results, Skowfoe led Republican Town Councilman Frank Tatten by just two votes. With the absentees counted and certified today, Skowfoe expanded this lead.

Skowfoe* (D)- 230: 50.8%
Tatten (R)- 223: 49.2%

* Denotes incumbent

Smith Wins in Final Tally in Blenheim

Newcomer Shawn Smith has officially unseated 20-year incumbent Bob Mann in Blenheim. The 27-year old attorney ran a vigorous campaign and expanded his lead over Mann in the final tally. In the original count, Smith was leading by 6.

Now, with the absentees counted, Smith won by a larger margin.

Smith (D)- 77: 53.5%
Mann (R)*- 66: 46.5%

* Denotes incumbent

Winners to be Named in Blenheim, Fulton and Wright Supervisor Races on November 19th

Voters in the Towns of Blenheim, Fulton and Wright proved to be a indecisive bunch in yesterday's election, with all three of their supervisor races decided by six votes or less according to unofficial results posted by the county Board of Elections and we wont know who the winners are until Tuesday, November 19th. 

The reason being is that there are still uncounted absentee and affidavit ballots greater then the margins in all three towns: Blenheim has eight absentee ballots to count with Democrat Sean Smith leading incumbent Republican Robert Mann 70-64, while Wright still has 34 to count with Democrat Karl Remmers holding on to a slim three vote lead (320-317) over Republican Amber Bleau and Fulton voters submitted 24 absentees in the even tighter contest between incumbent Democrat Phil Skowfoe and Republican Francis Tatten, where Skowfoe leads by only two votes (214-212).

And keep in mind none of those totals include affidavit ballots, which are subject to challenge and according to statistics are counted anywhere from 64.5% to 79.5% of the time, further clouding their impact in this year's election. 

Deputy-Commissioner Sara Davies-Griffin told the Schoharie News in a email this afternoon that they will be opening the absentee and affidavit ballots on Tuesday, November 19th at nine in the morning on the third flood of the county building and that it is open for all members of the public to witness. 

Uncertainty is guaranteed to be a theme of November 15th's county board meeting, as two of the longest serving members - who challenged each other in January's organizational meeting - wait to see if they will be returning for another term on the board, while the Town of Wright's chair will remain vacant for yet another month.

Election Rundown: Desmond, Milone Re-Elected; Galasso, Murray Defeated



 

While citizens of Schoharie County rewarded Sheriff Desmond with 48% of the vote and four more years atop the county's law enforcement apparatus, residents of Cobleskill were less kind to their two leaders: voting incumbent Town Supervisor Tom Murray out by six hundred votes and Village Mayor Mark Galasso by almost two hundred.

 

Esperance and Schoharie residents voted to re-elect their incumbent Supervisors despite them facing two well organized opponents, with Esperance voting overwhelmingly to "Keep Earl Supervisor" and Schoharie standing firmly behind Gene Milone. Mr. Milone's victory in particular speaks volumes to the amount of trust his constituents have in his ability after two years of fighting the powers that be to not only better serve the citizens of Schoharie but to cleanse the county government of inrooted corruption by motioning twenty-one months ago for the initiation of what would become the Fitzmaurice Report.

 

Two Supervisors from the southern portion of the county, Mr. Mann of Blenheim and Mr. Singletary of Jefferson, lost to a pair of young men in their respective races - with Mr. Mann losing by just six votes and Mr. Singletary by sixty, while two races remain too close to call without the inclusion of absentee ballots: Fulton Supervisor Phil Skowfoe, who currently heads the county board, leads his opponent by just two votes and Karl Remmers leads Amber Bleau by three in the Town of Wright.

Supervisors Bradt, Barbic, Lape, Van Glad and Vroman either handily defeated their opponents or faced no opposition at all, while Republicans Bill Federice and Bill Smith of Conesville and Broome respectively trounced their Democrat counterparts. Former Town of Broome Supervisor Anne Batz lost in her bid for Town Clerk, while former Village of Middleburgh Mayor Bill Ansel-McCabe failed to remain on the Middleburgh Town Board.

Most interesting of all, Town of Carlisle residents voted to elect Dave Laraway - host of the Northeast Gardner Show on WSDE - in addition to incumbent councilman Robert Smith with roughly 330 votes for both of the candidates, while in the Town of Summit the Democratic nominee for Councilman received only 8 votes against his Republican opponents, the lowest vote total for a candidate on the ballot this election.

The biggest winner of the evening was District Attorney James Sacket who received well over seven thousand votes, or around 85% of all votes cast county wide, in a dramatic showing of confidence by the citizens of Schoharie County in his prosecutorial abilities. 

"Tri-Partisan" Ad Was Kiss of Death at Ballot Box

The candidates endorsed by the Conservative Party placed an ad in last week's Cobleksill paper together, hoping to carry themselves to victory. Instead, every opposed candidate on the ballot yesterday faced defeat. Only Harold Vroman won-- and he was unopposed.

Three races are too close to call but have the Conservative Party-backed candidates lose. Many of these candidates were allies of Todd and Cassandra Ethington.

County Coroner Results

Donna McGovern has won another term as the Coroner of Schoharie County by a large margin.

McGovern, Donna	6963	100.0%
............. Total votes in the Town of Blenheim cast for McGovern, Donna	89
............. Total votes in the Town of Broome cast for McGovern, Donna	275
............. Total votes in the Town of Carlisle cast for McGovern, Donna	407
............. Total votes in the Town of Cobleskill cast for McGovern, Donna	1236
............. Total votes in the Town of Conesville cast for McGovern, Donna	226
............. Total votes in the Town of Esperance cast for McGovern, Donna	437
............. Total votes in the Town of Fulton cast for McGovern, Donna	337
............. Total votes in the Town of Gilboa cast for McGovern, Donna	196
............. Total votes in the Town of Jefferson cast for McGovern, Donna	322
............. Total votes in the Town of Middleburgh cast for McGovern, Donna	693
............. Total votes in the Town of Richmondville cast for McGovern, Donna	476
............. Total votes in the Town of Schoharie cast for McGovern, Donna	758
............. Total votes in the Town of Seward cast for McGovern, Donna	428
............. Total votes in the Town of Sharon cast for McGovern, Donna	384
............. Total votes in the Town of Summit cast for McGovern, Donna	239
............. Total votes in the Town of Wright cast for McGovern, Donna	460

District Attorney Results

Incumbent District Attorney James Sacket cruised to re-election unopposed today by a wide margin. The 20 year veteran had the Republican Party's backing.

Sacket, James L	7494	100.0%
............. Total votes in the Town of Blenheim cast for Sacket, James L	99
............. Total votes in the Town of Broome cast for Sacket, James L	301
............. Total votes in the Town of Carlisle cast for Sacket, James L	438
............. Total votes in the Town of Cobleskill cast for Sacket, James L	1224
............. Total votes in the Town of Conesville cast for Sacket, James L	235
............. Total votes in the Town of Esperance cast for Sacket, James L	500
............. Total votes in the Town of Fulton cast for Sacket, James L	358
............. Total votes in the Town of Gilboa cast for Sacket, James L	210
............. Total votes in the Town of Jefferson cast for Sacket, James L	353
............. Total votes in the Town of Middleburgh cast for Sacket, James L	757
............. Total votes in the Town of Richmondville cast for Sacket, James L	506
............. Total votes in the Town of Schoharie cast for Sacket, James L	872
............. Total votes in the Town of Seward cast for Sacket, James L	449
............. Total votes in the Town of Sharon cast for Sacket, James L	410
............. Total votes in the Town of Summit cast for Sacket, James L	269
............. Total votes in the Town of Wright cast for Sacket, James L	513

Town of Broome 2013 Election Results

The Town of Broome has five races this election day, four of which are hotly contested. Incumbent Supervisor Anne Batz is now running for Town Clerk.

Supervisor

Smith III, William M	228	65.7%
Micheli, David A	119	34.3%

Clerk

Wood, Donald K	201	56.6%
Batz, Anne M	154	43.4%

Councilman

Vance, Dale	224	32.6%
Wood, David L	223	32.5%
Schafroth, Frank J	151	22.0%
Jackson, Kermit E	89	13.0%

Assessor

Schmidt, Irene

243

100.0%

Highway Superintendent

Wayman, Jason S	193	52.4%
Parker, Michael A	175	47.6%

Town of Carlisle 2013 Results

There are two of four contested races in Carlisle including for incumbent Supervisor Larry Bradt.

Town of Carlisle

Supervisor

Bradt, Larry R	342	66.7%
Bortell, Susan M	171	33.3%

Clerk

Crofts, Colleen

470

100.0%

Councilman

Smith, Robert L	350	38.6%
Laraway, David	322	35.5%
Cross, Linda K	235	25.9%

Town of Gilboa 2013 Election Results

All unopposed races in Gilboa tonight.

Town of Gilboa

Supervisor

VanGlad, Anthony

200

100.0%

Councilman

Tompkins, Norwood	193	51.1%
Pickett, Dorothy	185	48.9%

Assessor

Molle, Thomas V

213

100.0%

2013 Sheriff's Race Results

Just coming in from the County Board of Elections-- incumbent Sheriff Tony Desmond has won a hard-earned victory tonight over his Democratic and Conservative rivals.

Candidate	Votes	Vote Percentage
Desmond, Anthony	4148	48.2%
............. Total votes in the Town of Blenheim cast for Desmond, Anthony	43
............. Total votes in the Town of Broome cast for Desmond, Anthony	222
............. Total votes in the Town of Carlisle cast for Desmond, Anthony	259
............. Total votes in the Town of Cobleskill cast for Desmond, Anthony	252
............. Total votes in the Town of Conesville cast for Desmond, Anthony	160
............. Total votes in the Town of Esperance cast for Desmond, Anthony	323
............. Total votes in the Town of Fulton cast for Desmond, Anthony	235
............. Total votes in the Town of Gilboa cast for Desmond, Anthony	152
............. Total votes in the Town of Jefferson cast for Desmond, Anthony	149
............. Total votes in the Town of Middleburgh cast for Desmond, Anthony	471
............. Total votes in the Town of Richmondville cast for Desmond, Anthony	275
............. Total votes in the Town of Schoharie cast for Desmond, Anthony	582
............. Total votes in the Town of Seward cast for Desmond, Anthony	243
............. Total votes in the Town of Sharon cast for Desmond, Anthony	328
............. Total votes in the Town of Summit cast for Desmond, Anthony	116
............. Total votes in the Town of Wright cast for Desmond, Anthony	338
---
Travis, Lawrence Larry	3117	36.2%
............. Total votes in the Town of Blenheim cast for Travis, Lawrence Larry	49
............. Total votes in the Town of Broome cast for Travis, Lawrence Larry	106
............. Total votes in the Town of Carlisle cast for Travis, Lawrence Larry	180
............. Total votes in the Town of Cobleskill cast for Travis, Lawrence Larry	775
............. Total votes in the Town of Conesville cast for Travis, Lawrence Larry	86
............. Total votes in the Town of Esperance cast for Travis, Lawrence Larry	155
............. Total votes in the Town of Fulton cast for Travis, Lawrence Larry	137
............. Total votes in the Town of Gilboa cast for Travis, Lawrence Larry	83
............. Total votes in the Town of Jefferson cast for Travis, Lawrence Larry	96
............. Total votes in the Town of Middleburgh cast for Travis, Lawrence Larry	299
............. Total votes in the Town of Richmondville cast for Travis, Lawrence Larry	254
............. Total votes in the Town of Schoharie cast for Travis, Lawrence Larry	288
............. Total votes in the Town of Seward cast for Travis, Lawrence Larry	226
............. Total votes in the Town of Sharon cast for Travis, Lawrence Larry	79
............. Total votes in the Town of Summit cast for Travis, Lawrence Larry	86
............. Total votes in the Town of Wright cast for Travis, Lawrence Larry	218
---
Ethington, Todd J	1345	15.6%
............. Total votes in the Town of Blenheim cast for Ethington, Todd J	36
............. Total votes in the Town of Broome cast for Ethington, Todd J	35
............. Total votes in the Town of Carlisle cast for Ethington, Todd J	77
............. Total votes in the Town of Cobleskill cast for Ethington, Todd J	137
............. Total votes in the Town of Conesville cast for Ethington, Todd J	51
............. Total votes in the Town of Esperance cast for Ethington, Todd J	102
............. Total votes in the Town of Fulton cast for Ethington, Todd J	53
............. Total votes in the Town of Gilboa cast for Ethington, Todd J	33
............. Total votes in the Town of Jefferson cast for Ethington, Todd J	182
............. Total votes in the Town of Middleburgh cast for Ethington, Todd J	107
............. Total votes in the Town of Richmondville cast for Ethington, Todd J	102
............. Total votes in the Town of Schoharie cast for Ethington, Todd J	95
............. Total votes in the Town of Seward cast for Ethington, Todd J	61
............. Total votes in the Town of Sharon cast for Ethington, Todd J	72
............. Total votes in the Town of Summit cast for Ethington, Todd J	138
............. Total votes in the Town of Wright cast for Ethington, Todd J

Town of Esperance 2013 Election Results

The Town of Esperance sees an incredibly tense election between current Supervisor Earl van Wormer and Mayor Steve Miller.

Town of Esperance

Supervisor

VanWormer III, Earl	361	62.6%
Miller, Steven R	216	37.4%

Clerk

VanWormer, Charmayne

387

100.0%

Highway Superintendent

Candidate	Votes	Vote Percentage
Keller, Michael D	494	54.9%
Easton-DeSarbo, Kathy S	405	45.1%

Councilman

Ovitt, Gary D

510

100.0%