The winner of the Democratic Primary race for Albany City Court Judge is yet to be determined.
When polls closed Tuesday night and early returns trickled in, Joshua Farrell was ahead of Jim Long by two points. As the evening progressed, that lead advanced a bit, then faltered. By final tally, Farrell was leading by a slim margin: 2,921 to 2,825.But more than 500 absentee ballots that came back need to be counted, leaving both candidates still very much in the running.
Farrell, speaking at an election night party, is with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s civil litigation unit. The former assistant public defender and state Supreme Court law clerk's campaign touted his "incredible energy and passion for fairness and justice." "I'm very confident that campaign will be successful. We were up by 96 votes from the machines."
Long practiced law for nearly four decades and was appointed Albany County Public Defender, serving a short stint earlier this year. He believes he is the most qualified and experienced candidate to replace retiring Judge Rachel Kretser, who decided not to run for a second term. There are five city court judges in all, each serving a 10-year term.
9th District Albany County Legislator Andrew Joyce: "Tonight's call was a little too close for comfort. You had two candidates who worked very hard. We've seen this happen before. Usually the candidate that's up at the end of the night is the one that's up at the end of the day when they count all the ballots."
That's not always true. In 2012 George Amedore gave a victory speech election night in the NY 46th district state Senate race. Although hundreds of votes ahead of opponent Cecilia Tkaczyk, absentee ballots put her in the seat, by a mere 18 votes.
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy says Democrats and Republicans need to address "low turnout." "We have to work on that in the county, across the state, across the nation. We have to make it easier for college kids who are registered to vote to stay votin.' If a college kid goes off and he takes the time, and does an absentee ballot or an opportunity to vote, he has to do it every year or she has to do it every year, and the college kids y'know not thinking that when they're going off to be a freshman or sophomore or junior. We have to look at like the state of Florida. They vote over the internet. We have to look at that. And if they can do it in other states, we have to look at here in Albany County, in New York State, how we can engaged people here to come out."
Some look at supporters who lined up behind each candidate as an indicator of a party split later on when it comes time for the next mayoral election. Former Assemblyman and local historian Jack McEneny says don't bet on it. "Speculation always is a great sport in Albany, but if you actually know the players, the people who lent their names for endorsements for example, you'll find some people who would be considered 'old guard,' and others who would be considered 'new progressives.' You'll find people, progressives from each side backing each person. And there may've been somewhat of a generational split because there's a difference in age between the two. I think if you really analyze it you would be very hard-pressed to turn it into an A team and a B team and then spin that into something to affect the mayoral election next year. I don't think an analysis of those names will come up with a clear pattern."
A woman who answered the phone at the Board of Elections couldn't say when to expect a final ballot count.
