Cheers broke out amongst Rotterdam Democrats as election results rolled in Tuesday, and they only grew louder as the night proceeded.
Rotterdam Democrats had a successful election night, gaining victory in nearly all races. Democrat Harry Buffardi held a more than 10 percent lead in his bid for supervisor over Republican and No New Tax Party founder Brian McGarry, with Buffardi garnering 3,694 votes, or 48 percent, and McGarry falling behind at 2,826 votes, or 37 percent, according to Schenectady County Board of Elections preliminary results. Incumbent Supervisor Frank DelGallo held less than half of McGarry’s votes with 1,172 votes, or 15 percent.
The only ballot line DelGallo appeared on was that of party, Rotterdam First, which he created after losing support from town Democrats before the primary election. DelGallo did make a run for the Democrat line in the primary election running a write-in campaign and he also had his name on the ballot for the Conservative primary, but failed in both efforts.
DelGallo could not be reached for comment.
Buffardi said he was happy with the results after a challenging race against two other candidates for town supervisor.
“The vote gets split and you never know what is going to happen,” Buffardi said. “I’m happy that we can start doing the people’s business starting tomorrow.”
Buffardi said he planned to call DelGallo on Wednesday, Nov. 9, to start the transition process and discuss with him what issues are facing the town.
“[DelGallo] very clearly said he is interested in serving the Town of Rotterdam,” Buffardi said. “He is going out and I am coming in, if he really wants to serve the Town of Rotterdam I would hope he would sit down with me and start discussions on issues so that we can transition in.”
McGarry said he feels he lived up to his promise to run a “clean, hard campaign,” and added he walked door to door every night for a couple of hours leading up to the election.
“If the victory would have been decided by sheer shoe leather alone I would have beat both of them collectively,” McGarry said. “I am and was in tune with the voters, but I don’t think I was able to get that across effectively enough.”
McGarry said he didn’t hold enough endorsements in the election. He ran on two ballot lines opposed to Buffardi’s four ballot lines, but he also said he didn’t have as much money to spend on the campaign as the other candidates.
Although DelGallo held just over 15 percent of the votes, McGarry said he didn’t believe DelGallo was a “spoiler” by siphoning votes away from him.
Dems secure Board seats
The Rotterdam Democrats also won their Town Board bids, with incumbent Wayne Calder holding 3,651 votes, or 25 percent, and newcomer Mike Viscusi garnering slightly more at 3,852 votes, or 26 percent. Republican Christopher Tomaselli fell short at 3,247 votes, or 22 percent, and fellow GOP candidate Joseph Villano had 2,960 votes, or 20 percent. The Rotterdam First Party candidates secured a scattered few votes, with William Cooke holding 541 votes, or 4 percent of the total, and Delores Doriguzzi with 301 votes, or 2 percent.
Buffardi announced he would be selecting Calder to be deputy supervisor after election results are solidified.
“[Calder] and I start tomorrow to start working some of these issues out and how we are going to handle that,” Buffardi said. “Certainly we want to develop teamwork and work together with other members of the council, but we also want to involve department heads, members of the community, all that good government stuff.”
As far as Buffardi and fellow Democrats securing Town Board seats ending dysfunctional Town Board dynamics, which many have claimed to be rampant, Buffardi said he “hoped so.”
“One of the reason I became interested in this race was because I was interested in some of the dynamics that were going on in that board,” Buffardi said. “Some of it was almost a comedy routine. I hope that I can bring some stability to that.”
A new future promised
To rousing applause Anthony Jasenski, chairman for the Rotterdam Democratic Committee and county legislator, once again stood upon a chair to give a victory speech, in a moment reminiscent of the night of the primary election.
“We recognized early on in this process that we were going to win and be successful in our quest to restore good government to Rotterdam,” Jasenski said. “We won a hard-fought, divisive and bitter primary contest … that made us stronger and more committed to our success.”
Jasenski said while campaigning door to door, residents said they wanted an “end to the political rhetoric” and action on “real issues” confronting the town, such as holding the line on taxes, spurring economic development and creating jobs.
“The people have spoken tonight and I am proud to say that their message was heard in their vote for our team,” Jasenski said. “We look forward to start setting a new course, a new direction, on Jan. 1, 2012.”
The only bid the town Democrats lost was in the reelection of Republican James Longo to the post of highway superintendent. Democrat Vincent Romano fell short with 3,236 votes, or 43 percent, while Longo amassed 3,721 votes, or 49 percent. Also, Rotterdam First Party candidate Larry Lamora held the least support in that race with at 606 votes, or 8 percent of the vote.
