OSWEGO, NY –The Republicans pulled away to a 6-1 majority on the Oswego Common Council on Wednesday.
Connie Cosemento (D-First Ward), the council president managed to maintain her seat on election night.
In the Second Ward, incumbent Barb Donahue didn’t seek re-election.
Michael Myers (R, C) received 361 votes to 202 for Kirk T. Coates (D, OI).
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| Sixth Ward councilor Tim Rice, foreground, and Bill Sharkey watch as votes are counted Wednesday. Sharkey defeated Rice and will join the Oswego Common Council in 2008. |
After the polls closed Nov. 6, Bill Sharkey (R, C) was slightly ahead of incumbent Timothy B. Rice (D, OI) by a count of 252 to 246.
After the absentee votes were counted, Sharkey came away with the win by about 10 votes.
After the count, conducted at the Oswego County Board of Elections Office, Rice leaned over to Sharkey and shook his hand.
“Bill put a lot of work into his campaign and he got the vote out, obviously better than I did,” Rice said. “That’s the bottom line.”
“I’m thrilled; ecstatic really,” Sharkey said as he left the elections office. “It was a lot of hard work and a lot of effort went into that.”
He agreed with Rice’s view of the campaign, adding that his opponent was an honorable man.
“I knocked on every door and talked to everybody. If they wanted five minutes, I gave them five minutes; if they wanted 10 … there were some where I was there for 30 minutes,” Sharkey noted.
Now, Sharkey said, he will try to be the best alderman he can be and be attentive to his constituents.
“If they call me, I’ll talk or call them right back. If they want me to visit them, I’ll visit them,” he vowed.
Rice said he wasn’t surprised how tight the race was, adding the last time the pair tangled it was close also.
“He out-worked me and he got his vote out,” Rice reiterated outside the elections offices. “He did well. He ran a good campaign.
Is a return to the political arena in Rice’s future?
“I don’t know. Right now I’m just going to relax a little bit. I’ll make a decision a little bit down the road,” he said.
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