POUGHKEEPSIE – Election results for the Dutchess County District Attorney race between incumbent Bill Grady, a Republican, and Democrat Rich Berube, a political newcomer, will not be decided until outstanding absentee ballots are counted in the next few weeks.
With 66,569 votes cast in the countywide election, Grady holds a lead of only 814 votes, with at least 2,200 absentee ballots waiting to be counted. Berube, a practicing attorney who once served under Grady as an assistant district attorney, was upbeat after the polls closed. “I feel good. This is the first time I’ve run for anything; it’s been a wonderful experience,” he said.
Berube, a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, was not even considering a concession speech Tuesday night. “I’m going to wait for the absentee ballots to come in and see the final results,” said Berube while he also took a moment to commend his former boss by saying “Bill ran a good race.”
A county legislature seat representing the towns of Clinton and Rhinebeck has also become too close to call. The District 11 seat formerly held by Joel Tyner pitted Brennan Kearney, the Democrat appointed to serve when Tyner resigned, against Republican Howard Traudt. When the polls closed on Tuesday with 4,331 votes cast, Kearney was in the lead by one single vote. Kearney received 2,165 votes. This race will likely be decided by absentee ballots.
Another race that received considerable attention was for the legislature’s District 1 seat featuring embattled incumbent Democrat Giancarlo Llaverias against Republican Margaret Kakish. In the weeks leading up to the election, Kakish tried to shine a light on statements Llaverias had made in the past regarding domestic violence and overall mistreatment of women. When the accusations arose, his fellow Democrats on the legislature called for his resignation, unsuccessfully. Llaverias took to social media to apologize for statements made when he was younger while calling them “learning experiences.” Llaverias addressed his opponent’s negative campaign saying “I think that the tactics that the GOP used actually worked against them. They did expose my past but what that really did was show the transformation I’ve made. It showed, in plain view that people can change!”
Town of Poughkeepsie voters went to the polls featuring a rematch of the 2017 race for town supervisor. In that race, Republican Jay Baisley squared off against Democrat Michael Treybich. That race wasn’t decided until December that year with Baisley finally defeating Treybich by 54 votes. As of the close of the polls this year, Baisley’s lead over Treybich was 99 votes, with several more than 100 outstanding absentee ballots. That race will likely last a few more weeks.
One of the most contentious races in Dutchess County was for the job of mayor in the City of Poughkeepsie. Incumbent Republican Rob Rolison was challenged by newcomer Joash Ward. Rolison, a political veteran with a long history of public service was challenged by Ward, a young Poughkeepsie native with limited exposure in the political arena.
Voter statistics for the city were heavily stacked in Ward’s favor, with registered Democrats numbering more than 8,000 while Rolison’s GOP accounts for 2,214 voters; nearly a 4:1 ratio favoring Democrats. When the votes were counted Tuesday night, Rolison appears to have been reelected by garnering 2,835 votes to Ward’s 2,523.
Kara Bucher, chairwoman of the City Republican Committee was ecstatic when the votes were tallied. “We’re outnumbered four to one but we fought hard for our candidates. Returning Mayor Rolison to city hall for another term will benefit everyone, regardless of party affiliation. Rob has done tremendous things to turn this city around and I look forward to the future with him at the helm.” When asked about the unsuccessful GOP candidates in the city, Bucher called the losses a “sign of the circumstances and certainly not a reflection of their qualifications.”
Rolison called the outcome “a great validation of what we’ve tried to do for the last four years – move this city forward with everyone who lives here.” The mayor, joined by several supporters Tuesday night, was thankful, saying “I’m honored to have the opportunity to do this for another four years.”
