One of the major contested seats for New Paltz and Ulster County more broadly this election year was the race for Ulster County District Attorney. Manny Nneji, SUNY New Paltz alumnus and the candidate for both the Democratic and Working Families parties, won the race. With only a slim margin of 50.21% of the vote, this was one of the closest of the seats voted on. Michael J. Kavanagh, backed by both the Conservative and Republican parties, received an astounding 49.79% of votes, making this seat the most highly contested in the county.
With only one of the three State Supreme Court Justice seats being contested, Richard Rivera beat out Dana Salazar to join fellow Democratic/Working Families candidates Daniel C. Lynch and Sherri J. Brooks-Morton in serving. Rivera beat Salazar with 26.16% of the vote, with Salazar only receiving 18.63%.
The third contested position of this election was the Village Trustee, with SUNY New Paltz alumnus Alexandria Wojcik receiving 83.51% of the vote. Backed by both the Democratic and Working Families parties, Wojcik beat Stevie Susta for the position.
Kitty Brown and Julie Seyfert-Lillis both ran unopposed for the two seats of Councilpersons. They are both Democrats, with Brown now going on a fourth term and Seyfert-Lillis going on a third.
Village Mayor of New Paltz Tim Rogers will continue to serve after running unopposed. He is backed by both the Democrat and Working Families parties.
For County Executive, Jen Metzger ran unopposed. She was endorsed by both the Democratic and Working Families parties.
Limina Grace Harmon ran unopposed for Ulster County Legislature District 20, where the Village and Town of New Paltz are included. She was backed by both the Democratic and Working Families parties. Also, Megan Sperry ran unopposed in Ulster County Legislature District 17, which encompasses much of the surrounding area directly outside of New Paltz, including a portion of Esopus. Like Harmon, Sperry was endorsed by the Democratic and Working Families parties.
For Town Clerk/Tax Collector for New Paltz, Democrat Rosanna Rosenkranse ran unopposed.
The Town Justice for New Paltz went unopposed as well, with the seat going to Democrat James Bacon.
Additionally, two proposals were on this year’s New York State ballot, both of which passed with over 65% of votes. Proposal Number One, An Amendment Removal of Small City School Districts From Special Constitutional Debt Limitation, received 65.10% of votes saying “Yes.” Proposal Number Two, An Amendment Extending Sewage Project Debt Exclusion From Debt Limit, received 67.18% of votes for “Yes.”