NEWBURGH- Two “at-large” council seats were up for grabs in the June primary. On election night, unofficial tallies had incumbent Omari Shakur in third place, behind first place Robert McIymore and Anusha Mehar, who came in second. After absentee ballots have been counted, Omari Shakur has pulled ahead of challenger Anusha Mehar by a slim margin.
Robert McIymore, a Town of Wallkill Police Lieutenant and Pastor in the City of Newburgh has remained the top vote-getter.
Mehar declared victory following the election night results that had her leading Shakur by 30 votes, but after the outstanding absentee votes were counted, Mehar’s lead evaporated. Shakur will hold onto his seat on the council, having collected 395 votes, just four more than Mehar.
New York law requires an automatic hand recount of the ballots if the margin of victory is 20 votes or less; or 0.5% or less; or less than 5,000 votes in a contest where one million or more ballots are cast.
Incumbent Anthony Grice decided not to seek reelection to the city council earlier this year. McIymore and Shakur will go on to face Republicans Christine Bello and Donald Rehrey Jr. in the general election this November.
The official results, according to the Orange County Board of Elections, for the Democratic primary election for City of Newburgh councilmember-at-large:
Robert McIymore: 487
Omari Shakur: 395
Anusha Mehar: 391
Gay Lee: 128
