Unofficial results from the Westchester County Board of Elections are now showing results from all 22 districts in Peekskill and 37 in Cortlandt, and the numbers in some races are extremely close.
In Peekskill, Frank Catalina (R, I, C) took 52-percent of the votes in the mayoral race, 2,175, to incumbent Mary Foster's (D, WF) 48-percent, 2,002.
"I'm going to go forth with the plan that I campaigned on—smart aggressive growth that doesn't take years to go through planning process," Catalina said Wednesday evening. "I believe people of good will who have the best interest of Peekskill in mind will be receptive to those plans."
Incumbent Mary Foster congratulated Catalina Thursday evening and conceded that it "looks like Peekskill will have a new mayor."
"I do believe Peekskill has positioned itself extremely well in the future and that the new mayor will need to work with the Democratic majority in terms of fulfilling the plans and promises we have made in moving the city forward," she said.
Foster wished the newly elected leaders the "best of luck" and thanked the voters for participating in the election.
Vivian Cyndi McKenzie (D) secured 53-percent of the votes, 2,026, in the special election for Don Bennett's unexpired seat on the common council. 1,777 voters, or 47-percent, cast ballots for Leslie Detres (R, C).
Here's the breakdown of votes for the three common council seats:
- Drew A. Claxton (D, WF): 2,002, 17-percent
- Marybeth McGowan (D, WF): 1,966, 17-percent
- Andrew Torres (D, WF): 1,909, 16-percent
- Chris Hanzlik (R, I, C): 1,959, 17-percent
- Joe Torres (R, I, C): 2,008, 17-percent
- Vincent A. Vesce: 1,965, 17-percent
There are 176 outstanding absentee ballots in Peekskill and 298 in Cortlandt, according to Tajian Jones, executive assistant to Democratic Commissioner Reginald A. LaFayette. When asked Thursday when the results of the absentee ballots would be available, Jones could not give a timeframe because of the judge-ordered impound that stretches across five counties.
"At this time, I just want to thank everybody that voted in this election," Hanzlik said. "I am anxiously waiting to see the final results once the absentee and affidavit ballots have been accounted for."
In contested Cortlandt elections, Debbie Costello-Carter (D) and Seth Freach (D) took 26-percent (4,233) and 21-percent (3,567), respectively, of the votes for town board. The four other candidates were Theresa Knickerbocker (R, C, I) with 21-percent (3,460), John Lentini (C) with 18-percent (2,960), Domenic Volpe (I, WF) with 11-percent (1,860) and Brian Pugh (WF) with 3-percent (524).
Carter-Costello said in a statement she is "humbled and excited by the trust" voters placed in her.
"With such an extremely close election in both the primary and general election for town council, I am very proud of the incredible efforts of everyone who contributed their time and their skills to our ground operation which was the key factor to our success," John McBride, Chair of the Cortlandt Democratic Committee, said.
Incumbent town justice Gerry Klein (R, I, C) secured 53-percent (4,591) of the votes, while challenger Shari Gordon (D, WF) took 47-percent (4,062).
Unofficial results from several districts in Cortlandt and Peekskill were missing Tuesday and Wednesday.
When asked about missing districts, the board of elections told Patch Wednesday that some of the machines were still not back, but results would be updated Thursday. In Peekskill, a "malfunctioning voting machine in District 10 prevented approximately 350 votes from being counted," the Hudson Valley Reported noted in this story.
Click here for more on the Cortlandt elections, including the numbers for uncontested elections.
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