Don’t think your vote never counts.
In the last of the ballot counting yesterday in his hometown of Schoharie, Republican Chris Tague picked up 149 votes, enough to—finally—decide the winner of April 24’s special election for Pete Lopez’s 102nd Assembly seat.
“It says a lot when you look at how close it was,” said Democratic candidate and Greene County legislator Aidan O’Connor Jr., in the days leading up to Monday’s count of absentee ballots in Columbia County and Tuesday’s count in Schoharie.
“A lot of people worked very hard for me and I’m very grateful. Now it’s on to November.”
Mr. O’Connor said that unless the final counts are extremely close he won’t contest them; Monday, Mr. Tague said the same.
“We’ve been without representation for too long,” Mr. Tague said, “and I don’t want to see this dragged out any longer.”
The special election only fill’s Mr. Lopez’s seat until the end of the year and both Mr. Tague and Mr. O’Connor said they’ll be running again in November.
Election Night, Mr. Tague was the apparent winner, with a 288 vote lead over Mr. O’Connor: 8,547-8,259.
Independent candidate Wes Laraway, a Middleburgh Central School teacher, got 1,809 votes.
Mr. Tague’s lead narrowed as the absentee and military ballots were counted; Monday in Columbia County, Mr. O’Connor picked up 25 votes and Mr. Tague received 12, leaving the Schoharie supervisor with a 8,723-8,514 or 209 vote edge.
Tuesday, counting Schoharie County’s 364 absentee and 19 affidavit ballots took until noon.
Mr. Tague gained 149, and Mr. O’Connor, 129, making the final tally 8,872-8,643 in Mr. Tague’s favor. Mr. Laraway picked up 94 late Schoharie County votes.
While he waited to be named the winner, Mr. Tague was already acting like one, pulling together a staff and trying to help out some of those he met on the campaign trail.
“I met at least a dozen people who’d emailed Pete [Lopez] not realizing he’d gone with things they needed help with…the VA, military benefits, pistol permit questions.
“And that’s a big part of the job—constituent services. Making phone calls or pointing people in the right direction. That’s why I ran. That’s what this job is.”
Still, the final results are unofficial until verified by the State Board of Elections Commissioners, who are expected to meet in June.