WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Election Day is here and in Watertown it’s a race for city council. Seven candidates are vying for three seats.
Here’s where things stood as of 4 p.m. in Watertown where there are 12,100 active voters; 1,900 had voted. Average turnout for an off-year election is 4,100 to 4,600 voters.
A Jefferson County elections official described this as “lagging.”
We spoke with many of the city council candidates as they cast their ballots.
Amy Horton is running against Patrick Hickey for an unexpired two-year seat.
“I’m excited, I’m optimistic,” Horton said. “I’ve done all that I can possibly do to talk to all the voters, to earn their support, knocking on over 2,000 doors and I’m really proud of that. And I’m hoping that everybody sees that,” she said.
“I’ve done a lot of publicity. A lot of PR. A lot of ads. I’ve gotten my message out; continuing to get people to contact me, even today, saying good luck,” said Hickey.
Then you have the candidates running for a four-year seat. Incumbent Lisa Ruggiero was the top vote getter in the June primary.
“It’s been a long, hard eight months for this campaign as I know it has been for the other candidates as well,” Ruggiero said. “So, I’m glad that we’re here today – you know, got here. The big thing I would like to say is, number one make sure everybody does get out and vote because we have seen it in city elections where one vote does matter.”
Ruggiero, Cliff Olney, Ben Shoen, Leonard Spaziani (write-in), and Michelle Capone are running for the four-year seats. We’ll have two winners from that group.
This is Olney’s fourth campaign. He’s hoping to get on the council for the first time. Olney thinks the city is ready for a change in leadership.
“I hope today that a clear distinction is made by the people of Watertown as to what they want. And if it’s to continue to go in the same direction that we have been, okay, so be it. But, I have a feeling that people want to do something differently,” he said.
Spaziani currently sits on the council as Jessie Roshia’s replacement, but he’s running a write-in campaign for a four-year seat. He says that’s an uphill battle, but he’s confident in his campaigning.
“I got my ideas out there. I got my complaints out there. I feel that some of the topics, I got them to surface to the top to discuss for everybody,” he said.
Capone voted early and Shoen plans on voting Tuesday evening.
We’re also following an eight-way race for three seats on the Ogdensburg city council. We’re hearing that there’s been a steady stream of voters there.
Polls close at 9 p.m. We’ll have results on this website and during 7 News Tonight at 11 p.m.
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