The Melrose Republican and current NYS Assemblyman representing a large portion of Renssealer County, has been locked in a tight battle with Democrat Andrea Smyth, since he defeated the outgoing Deputy County Executive Chris Meyers in a September primary. Both candidates were vying to replace four term County Executive Kathy Jimino, who choose not to seek another term. Figures provided by the Rensselaer County Board of Elections show 100% of the ballots cast on election day to have been counted, and they give Mr. McLaughlin a 948 vote lead, or roughly 50% of the votes cast. Ms. Smyth has 48%, with Green Party Candidate Wayne Foy receiving the other 2%.
The vote totals do not include absentee ballots, which will be counted later this week or early next. Generally, the absentee counts mirror the percentages recorded on election day. The vote count was not final until several hours after the polls closed. Mr. McLaughlin had an early lead of 53 to 47 percent, but Ms. Smyth whittled away at that has the count progressed, but still came up short, as least as far as the ballots that have been counted at this time.
Speaking to the media, Mr. McLaughlin said he went into the day confident, and feels good about his lead holding up. He repeated a phrase he has used throughout the campaign, “that he and his team will make life better for everyone in the county.”
As of press time, Ms. Smyth had not yet conceded the race. She told her supporters Tuesday night, that “we will wait for every vote to counted.” She current serves as the Executive Director of the NYS Coalition for Children’s Mental Health Services and owns her own Advocacy company. she is a resident of East Greenbush.
In the race for County Judge, Democrat Jennifer Sober defeated Republican Phil Danaher with just under 53% percent of the vote to Mr. Danaher’s 47%. County Clerk Frank Merola ran unopposed.