Michaelis Concedes District 2 Race to Harckham

Updated 6 p.m.

 Harckham's office issued a press statement following Michaelis' concession.

“I just received a call of congratulations from Peter Michaelis. We had a lengthy and friendly conversation. I consider Peter a friend and greatly respect all that he has done for Bedford. He ran a great campaign and he should be proud of his efforts," said Harckham in the release.

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Peter Harckham's campaign sent out a press release Wednesday afternoon regarding the election results, claiming to have an insurmountable lead in the race for county legislator, District 2.

"I am humbled by this strong show of confidence from the voters and I look forward to serving the people of northern Westchester for another two years,” said Harckham, noting that he had not yet received a congratulatory call from his Republican opponenet, Peter Michaelis.

On Thursday, Michaelis put in that call.

He had held off on doing so since Tuesday night when a county-wide impoundment of machines led to several districts going uncounted. On Wednesday votes were read electronically from the memory cards of those machines resulting in a complete—though still unofficial—tally.

Michaelis ended up with 45 percent of the vote, or 4,005 votes to Harckham's 4,815 votes. Even with the addition of absentee ballots and affadavits, once counted, the gap wouldn't close enough to win, Michaelis acknowledged.

Michaelis expressed his disappointment but said he couldn't have run a better campaign with a better team.

"We had great volunteers, very professional. We had a great message and I know the District 2 better than ever before," he said, noting that although his race did not turnout in his favor, he was thrilled that there was a chance for breaking the Democratic supermajority.

A few key races with uncounted votes may break the current 12-5 Democratic majority on the board, according to the county board of elections.

Most disappointing to Michaelis was the voter turnout. In 2009, he said, over 11,000 voters came to the polls as compared to Tuesday's elections when 8,820 voted in the district 2 election.

He said he would continue his civic activities and look for ways to help out at the county level, perhaps on initiatives round Rye Playland.

He did not rule out the possibility of running for the county seat for a third time.