FULTON, NY – Unofficial results for local primary elections left some races tight for elected officials relative to Fulton on either the city’s Common Council or the Oswego County Legislature.
The final tallies have been counted and in one instance, the official results have changed.
The 25th Legislative District representing a portion of Fulton on the Oswego County Legislature showed an initial unofficial count for a Conservative race of six votes for candidate Marc Holliday and four votes for incumbent Frank Castiglia Jr.
Oswego County Board of Elections officials have confirmed that absentee ballots tallied last week have the two at a deadlock, both receiving seven votes.
The final decision will defer to a Conservative Party nomination to be determined at a meeting scheduled this week.
“For me, it is a victory and my campaign moves forward. My sole objective and focus is to win the general election so we can begin to rebuild and revitalize Fulton,” Holliday said.
In the case of a Conservative primary loss, he will focus on his campaign to run on the Republican and Independence party lines.
Castiglia, too, will focus on his general election campaign running on the Democratic party line in the event of a Conservative primary loss.
“I represent the people of my district regardless of party. When I’m voting with the legislature, I’m not voting on Democrat money or Republican money, I’m voting on taxpayer money. I think there were issues addressed that were misleading as to what a county legislator can do. We represent the district in county business, not represent the county in city business. We work with different committees, try to bring jobs and cut costs to the city as well as costs to the whole county. We are a county government governed by committees,” Castiglia said.
Neither candidate were surprised by voter turnout, with a total count of 14 conservative voters in the 25th district for the primary election.
“From what I understand it was a low voter turn which is not unexpected given it is an off year,” Holliday said.
“Considering there’s just over 40 conservatives in the district, I think the turnout was pretty good. The key for people to realize is the primary election is just as important as the general election, every vote matters. It’s a privilege to vote, so everyone should be voting,” Castiglia said.
The two will continue campaigning for the general election on November 7, regardless of final primary outcome.
The Fulton Common Council Fifth Ward Democratic primary official race results showed Dennis Merlino as the winner 35-30 over Audrey Avery.
“I am proud and humbled so many people voted for me, and I truly thank them for their support. Running for office is an exciting experience, a real roller coaster ride. I ran a very clean campaign, I was forthright and honest. I’m a positive person and I think this has been the greatest opportunity to find the true pulse or Fulton. I thought Fulton was great before, I absolutely love the people of Fulton now. This has been the most enlightening, fascinating experience of my life going door to door getting to know the residents. Knowing some of the stories the people of Fulton have, it’s indescribable. I want Fulton to succeed, and I hope I can help do that,” Merlino said.
The race is not over, as the two will square off again in the general election with Avery on the Republican and Conservative lines.
“I want to thank my constituents for supporting me. I feel good about the results considering I went into it without any party backing, just my husband and I going door to door. All in all, I think I did well and I’m thankful I was sought out to be endorsed,” Avery said.
Both candidates were pleased with voter turnout.
The Common Council Fourth Ward Republican race officially resulted in Samuel Vono ousting incumbent James Myers, 59-19 to allow for an uncontested race in the general election.
“I want to thank all of my constituents for taking the time to come out and vote in the primary,” Vono said. “Although my chances to clinch the 4th Councilman’s position in November appear to be very good, I don’t like to count my chickens before they are hatched. Therefore, I would like to see and ask my constituents to come again for the November 7th general election. This would solidify that they want the ‘Fresh Start’ that they voted for in the Primary.”
Pending a general election victory, Vono said his first order of business is to convene with the current Common Council, mayor, and city department heads to get the “lay of the land” with the objectives and issues for both the fourth ward and the city.
He also aims to offer Fulton residents a more positive and optimistic outlook of the city’s future, encouraging residents to be a part of the solution.
“My bottom line is that, I’ve lived here all of my life, since 1952, and I feel that Fulton is still a great place to raise kids and that we have some organizations that have volunteers that are working to improve the quality of life in our community. That being said, that’s what I want to do for Fulton,” he added.
Vono said that while he was informed that primary election voter turnout is typically low, he is pleased with the amount of voter support.
“I received approximately 72 percent of the total votes for this position. That tells me that my constituents have faith and confidence in my ability to represent the fourth ward effectively,” he said.
Myers congratulated Vono on his win at a recent council meeting, confident in the hands in which he will be leaving the Fourth Ward, he said.
Fulton’s current First Ward councilor Tom Kenyon, Second Ward councilor David Ritchie, Third Ward councilor Donald Patrick, and Sixth Ward councilor Larry Macner will all run unopposed in November’s general election.
“I’m thankful for your interest in Fulton,” Mayor Ronald Woodward Sr. told the candidates at a recent council meeting. “At the end of the day no matter what our politics are, its a good thing we all care about Fulton and want to make things better.”
Visit the Oswego County Board of Elections website for all official Oswego County primary election results.
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When are the papers and everyone else going to start revealing Marc Holliday’s past name. On his personal face book page he is listed as Marc Thomas Holliday(Mark Aldasch) he should do the same thing on his Political page as well. Unless he is trying to hide who he really is from the voters. Truth is the name of the game and he should start by telling people who he is.