Tagged: Hudson Valley News

  Dutchess County Republican Chairman Michael McCormick says State Senator Stephen Saland isn’t out of the running just yet even though he lost on Election Day.

Democrat Terry Gipson was the top vote getter in a three way race, but McCormick said on Wednesday that Saland could still win when absentee ballots are counted.

“He’s down about 1,400 votes or so, plus or minus, and there are about 8,000 absentee ballots out there, so that’s considerable and I’m just hopeful that they break the right way for Steve Saland,” McCormick said.

Poughkeepsie area college students, who were denied the ability to vote in the election by Republican Dutchess County Elections Commissioner Erik Haight, may do so after all.

Haight maintained they did not properly list their campus addresses on their voter registration forms. But, US District Court Judge Kenneth Karas ruled late Monday they may, in fact, vote on Tuesday.

Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo is endorsing Republican Sen. Stephen Saland, who cast the historic 32nd vote needed a year ago to legalize gay marriage in New York.

The popular governor has long said he would support the Republican senators who voted for legalization. Although most of the Senate's Republican majority opposed it, Saland and three others voted for the measure, risking their careers in what they said were personal votes of conscience.

In September, Saland won a narrow victory in the first Republican primary of his career in the Poughkeepsie-area district.

First-term incumbent Rep. Nan Hayworth faced Democrat challenger Sean Patrick Maloney on Wednesday, during a forum sponsored by the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce.

They are running for a seat in the new 18th New York Congressional District.  Recent polls indicate the race tight.

The 45 minute exchange allowed both candidates a brief opportunity to describe their qualifications and express differences on several key issues

Contender Maloney served three years as staff secretary for President Bill Clinton.