OSWEGO COUNTY, NY – The 2017 primary election for the 25th District of Oswego County Legislature initially left newcomer Marc Holliday leading the polls with six votes to incumbent Frank Castiglia Jr.’s four votes in a conservative primary race.
Given time to account for absentee ballots, the final results evened the score at a deadlock, each candidate receiving seven votes.
According to Oswego County Board of Elections officials, the tie-breaking decision would be left to the Oswego County Conservative Party to discuss and decide through a committee vote.
“The Executive Committee of the Oswego County Conservative Party met Thursday (Sept 28) night at its regularly scheduled meeting and the issue of appointing a candidate for the Conservative line for the 25th Legislative district was voted on. The chairman and secretary convened this vote and found that neither candidate was selected. Therefore, there will be no representative for the Conservative Party on this line,” said Ron Greenleaf, chairman of the Oswego County Conservative Party.
Castiglia, current minority leader and democratic representative of the 25th district representing a portion of Fulton in County Legislature was “devastated” with the overall result.
Castiglia said he was approached by the Conservative committee four years ago, asked to carry their banner in his election campaign and was again approached two years ago asking of the same support.
“During my time in legislature, I have carried myself in line with the goals and wants for their Conservative candidate so I’m devastated by this outcome,” he said.
Castiglia noted that a week before the election, the Conservative party sent out letters in non-support of his challenger, Marc Holliday.
“It just makes no sense to me. It’s as if you were asked to be on a team, you performed well for them for four years, and then they just decide they don’t know if they want you any longer,” he explained.
While upset with the result, Castiglia is continuing to campaign for the general election in November on the Democratic and Independent lines with the endorsement of the Oswego County Labor Council, he said.
Newcomer Holliday, however, found the results to be fair.
“I think it was a fair decision. What they did was the right decision. It was a tie, that’s the proper decision so neither candidate can complain. They avoided controversy and I think what they did was excellent. I think they made the right choice because it puts it back in the hands of the people,” Holliday said.
Noting neither are registered conservatives, he was understanding of the decision.
“He’s a Democrat and I’m a Republican. We both fought over the line and it was a tie so what do you do? Do you take from one and give to the other? That’s not right. I think in all fairness, they did the right thing. I’m happy, I’m satisfied with it,” he continued.
The race will go on as Holliday will appear on the general election ballot on the Republican and Independence party lines, he said.
The final decision will be decided by Oswego County voters on the date of the 2017 general election, Tuesday, November 7.
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CONGRATULATIONS Marc what Fulton needs is a true conservative… Fulton’s Democrat SWAMP needs to be drained & dredged.
How about the next time they need a primary they mail out the ballots to the whopping 40 people and save the tax payers of the County a bunch of money. Had to pay people all day to sit for a handful of ballots. Tax payers should not be paying for inter party elections. Probably cost more than the Legislatures mileage account for the year.
Joe, That’s just how uninformed you are. The city and county are run by Republicans. Aldasch is a far cry from being a conservative. Spend money on a pond, and a beach. Not the conservative way. But what would you or him know.
Still Watching, keep voting Democrat you get what you deserve a dying decayed city loaded with Sex Offenders, drug addicts & criminals with no future. That’s how Uninformed out of touch obstructionist Democrats such as yourself are. …..my opinion as an Independent voter whose seen Fulton go down the Democrat tubes for far too many Decades.
There are five legislators representing the City of Fulton. That’s five of 25 legislators. Four are Republican and Frank is the Democrat.
The legislature does not micromanage the city. That’s why you have a city government. If you feel they aren’t doing what they should be doing, then attend meetings and demand they do or vote them out of office. County legislators are not to blame for the city going “down the Democrat tubes.”
Much of what Mr. Holliday proposed is either already in place, underway or is something the county cannot do. For example, Mr. Holliday mentions Family Court, however, county legislators have no jurisdiction over the court system. Courts are the jurisdiction of state lawmakers. He proposed the idea of property owners being able to pay their taxes online. This is already being implemented in the county. As for the city, they would need to weigh the cost against the number of users, as many homeowners have their taxes in escrow. It’s very costly to set up the online tax payment system.
The bottom line is, the city has its own government to represent the interests of the city and the county has its own government to represent the interests of the citizens in countywide matters, such as social services, solid waste, county roads, the airport, etc… anything that impacts every resident of the county, not just those residing in a particular area.
Joe, You are senseless. Also not in touch. The Rep. have been in charge of the city for the past 12yrs. Mayor is a Rep. you have 2 Rep. councilors , 2 conservatives(Rep. in sheep’s clothing) and only 2 Dems. One of which is a Dem in Rep. clothing. So really. I vote the person not the party.
Sorry, I erred. There are three Republicans representing the City of Fulton: Linda Lockwood, Morris Sorbello and James Karasek.
Frank Castiglia and Dan Farfuglia are the Democrats.
When Mr. Holliday loses this election and all the negative things he has said come back to slap him in the face, I wonder what he will change his name to and what reason he will give.