Republican Sweep Possible in Orangetown Elections

Unofficial results have Republican Walter Wettje, Jr. ahead of Democratic incumbent Andy Stewart for Orangetown Supervisor by 36 votes with absentee ballots to be counted. Councilmen Denis Troy and Tom Diviny and Tax Receiver Bob Simon won re-election. Tuesday.

Results on the Rockland County Board of Elections website showed incumbent Democrat Andy Stewart with a lead of almost nine points over Republican challenger Walter Wettje in the race for Orangetown Supervisor with nearly 90 percent of of the votes counted, but the Republicans gathered at Emmett's Castle in Pearl River knew that was likely to change.

"I was down, but people kept telling me it was going to change. Pearl River is going to come in," Wettje said. "You still have a lot of votes out there."

They were right. The difference was enough when the final unofficial total came in Tuesday night, Wettje had passed Stewart. Wettje has 5,948 votes to Stewart's 5,912 with the absentee ballots yet to be counted.

"Based on the unofficial results, the election is too close to call and the candidates are separated by a handful of votes," Stewart said. "We expect that the election will be resolved following a thorough examination of paper ballots and I am committed to making sure that all legitimate votes are counted."

"I just take it one step at a time," Wettje said. "It's competitive. I'm used to competition. We just have to hope for the best."

The other Orangetown races ended with more definitive winners in the unofficial results. 

Two seats on the Orangetown Council were on the ballot. Incumbents Denis Troy and Tom Diviny, both Republicans, won re-election Tuesday, Troy with 6,837 votes (29.4 percent) and Diviny with 6,587 votes (28.34 percent). Democrat Dan Salmon received 4,968 votes (21.4 percent) and Democrat Annmarie Uhl got 4,840 votes (20.8 percent).

"I'm very grateful," Troy said. "We worked hard at it and the people put us back in again. It's a good feeling."

Repubican Bob Simon, who has been Orangetown's Receiver of Taxes since 1999, won the right to be the final person to hold that job Tuesday night with 6,993 votes, 60.4 percent of the total. Challenger Chris Smith, a Democrat, had 4,573 votes. 

"I'm so proud of the team I ran with," Simon said. "This is such a special night. It's my last campaign, but I'm going out on a high note. I'm not being carried out. I'm walking out."

The reason Simon will be the last to hold the office is Proposition 7, allowing the town to eliminate the Receiver of Taxes office, passed with 7,085 votes, 74.6 percent.

"I may have lost the battle, but I won the war tonight," Smith wrote on his Twitter account. "With an overwhelming amount of votes, Prop 7 passes. Thank you to all my supporters."

Three other Orangetown incumbents ran with no opposition -- HIghway Superintendent James Dean, Town Justice Richard Finning and Town Clerk Charlotte Madigan. Dean and Finning are Republicans. Madigan was on both the Republican and Democratic lines along with Conservative and Independence.

Now Orangetown must wait for the official results for Supervisor. Stewart was running for a second term and Wettje would give the Republicans all five seats on the town board. Troy said he went through it with a race he won by 39 votes in 2000. 

"It’s painful," Troy said. "You have a margin of error that small, you just don’t know. In 2000, I got 11,000 votes. My opponent had 11,000 votes. It was the most anybody had gotten for town board. It came down to 39 votes. It’s nerve-racking for the loser and the winner. 

"The next five to seven day swill be tough on Walter and his family because you are dealing with the absentee ballots. We also worked hard on absentee ballots. I believe Walter will win. This guy is going to make a great supervisor."

To hear comments from the Orangetown Republicans, who spoke at the Republican election night headquarters at the Nanuet Comfort Inn & Suites, click here.