Incumbent Bethlehem Town Justice Ryan Donovan has secured all but one line on the November ballot, after handily defeating challenger Ralph Ambrosio in two primary races Tuesday, Sept. 14.
With all precincts reporting, unofficial results show Donovan to have won the Independence primary 248 votes to 68 votes, and the Conservative primary 113 votes to 50 votes. Donovan was endorsed by both parties.
Ambrosio said he was not discouraged by the results, and would be focusing on the race in November, when he will appear on the Republican line. He said he expects an entirely different contest as opposed to the primary, where he personally collected nearly all the signatures needed to appear on the ballot.
The primary is a lot different because you’ve got a base, there are very few people, the first-time candidate said. `[The Republican Party’s] resources are now going to come into play.`
Donovan expressed appreciation to his volunteers and said he is also looking forward to the general election.
`I think we ran a strong campaign, which is reflected in the results,` he said. `We’re not going to stop now, we’re going to run at this pace until November.`
For Independence and Conservative party voters in Bethlehem, the town justice race was the only one on the ballot.“
