Incumbent Democrat Justin Chaires won reelection to the Schenectady City Council, handily defeating his Democratic Primary opponent, Rachael Ward, who was running on the Conservative Party line.
Chaires garnered about 67% of the vote compared to Ward's approximately 17% with all election districts reporting, according to unofficial results from the Schenectady County Board of Elections. Sarojanie Ibrahim, the Republican candidate who dropped out and endorsed Ward in early October, earned about 15.5% of the vote.
"It's still about making sure that we're able to work together through the nonsense, and the focus has to remain on the residents of the city," Chaires said in an interview Wednesday afternoon. "I'm not here for petty politics. I keep saying it, it's not a tagline. I already won, so there's no rhetoric behind it. I'm here to really do the work."
Chaires' election to serve the final year of former Councilmember John Mancini's term solidifies a narrow one-seat majority for the City Council's relatively progressive faction, which is often at odds with Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy. McCarthy had publicly backed Ward after suing to stop the council from appointing Chaires.
Chaires told WAMC he wants to use his next year on the council to focus on securing much-needed state aid for the city and solving quality of life issues.
"We got to keep focusing on quality of life in the City of Schenectady, making sure that we we invest properly in infrastructure that helps all residents," Chaires said. "We've done a great job in the downtown area, but that has to spread all throughout the City of Schenectady. So we got to make sure that we broaden our focus, max out every opportunity to bring in and bring up every bit that we can for every resident in the city."
The race was defined by Schenectady's budget woes and homelessness issue. Ward also accused Chaires of lying about his prior experiences as a teacher and member of the city's Civilian Police Review Board.
The campaign featured plenty of mudslinging as well, including in the final hours of the campaign. Councilmember Kim Wiggins, who frequently votes with Chaires on contested votes, called Ward a "pig" in a Facebook post on Election Day. Some of Ward's allies condemned that statement, but Wiggins doubled down in a second post.
Chaires and the rest of the all-Democrat council will now have to pass a city budget for 2027 after talks fell apart Monday night. Chaires was one of three City Council members who tanked a proposed budget with a 15% property tax increase in favor of passing a budget with a 13% increase. The budget proposal depends on $6.5 million in state aid.
The Schenectady City Council is set to hold another budget meeting Thursday. Chaires said he hadn't had any conversations with council members Tuesday because of the election, but he added he was hoping to have some Wednesday.
