WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Absentee and ballots were counted in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties Monday, possibly deciding some races that were too close to call on election night.
Results, however, are still unofficial.
In Watertown, Cliff Olney maintained his lead for city council over Michelle Capone. Capone gained more votes than Olney Monday, but it wasn’t enough to close what was a 73-vote gap on election night.
“The people, I think, over the course of the six years that I’ve been running, listened and had hope. And that’s what I think happened today – that hope won,” said Olney.
Jefferson County Board of Elections Republican Commissioner Jude Seymour says there are still affidavit votes, but it’s extremely unlikely they would be enough for Capone to close the gap.
Seymour says the election will likely be certified by Thanksgiving.
The race for Black River mayor, though, is still up in the air. David Leonard and current Mayor Francis Dishaw appear to be in a dead heat with 131 votes each.
Dishaw ran as a write-in after losing to Leonard in the Republican primary. Five ballots of Dishaw’s ballots only had his last name written on them, two with misspellings.
Elections officials say it still needs to be decided if those votes are valid. The hope to have it ironed out by Thanksgiving.
In Madrid, the results for town supervisor were reversed from election night.
Then, Republican Philip Paige was leading Democrat Anthony Cooper 200-192.
Now, Cooper leads Paige 216-210.
“My hope is that we as a town council will continue to work towards bringing opportunity to the folks in Madrid and to better the community for all of our residents,” said Cooper.
The race for Edwards town supervisor could be decided by one vote.
By the end of counting Monday, Republican Jeff Shippee was ahead of write-in candidate Sharee Lanphear 111-110.
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