Updated: 2017 General Election results

There was a good turnout on Tuesday for the General Election in Tioga County. And although there were many uncontested races taking place in the county, there were proposals on the ballot that would affect law in New York State, as well as a few contested races to include Town of Owego Supervisor, Superintendent of Highways in Owego, and a contested race for Superintendent of Highways in the Town of Berkshire, among others.

In a contest to be seated as Town Justice in Barton, incumbent Joseph Fravel (R) earned 617 votes; Michael Myers (C) received 420 votes. For Town Supervisor, Leon Cary (R) defeated Johann Krupa (I), with 689 and 269 votes, respectively.

In the Town of Berkshire, the only contested race was for Town of Berkshire Superintendent of Highways. Karl Spoonhower (Peoples Party) earned 240 votes, defeating Goerge Hoffmier, Jr. (R, Save Money), who had 157 votes.

There were no contested races in Candor, Newark Valley or Tioga. However, there was an aggressive write-in campaign for Candor Town Supervisor. The write-in candidate earned 45 percent of the votes, or 294. William Strosahl, Jr. received 55 percent of the vote, or 356, thus earning the seat.

In Nichols, Billy Middleton and Ray Thetga were voted in to fill the two available seats on the Town Council, with 253 and 240 votes, respectively. Challengers James Campoli and Nels Rought earned 155 and 89 votes, respectively.

In Owego, Donald Castellucci retained his seat for another term as Town Supervisor, defeating challenger Cecelia Menhennett, a Democrat, who earned 43.41 percent of the unofficial vote counts, or 315. Castellucci had 55.80 percent of the vote, or 404. There were five write-in votes.

In another contested race in Owego, Mark Clark was re-elected as Highway Supervisor with 68 percent of the votes, or 436. Thomas Kinney, Jr., who had 31.72 percent of the votes, or 203, challenged Clark. There was one write-in vote.

For Town Council in Owego, Craig Jochum (R) and Dean Morgan (R,C) retained their seats, earning 40 percent and 45 percent of the votes, respectively. Rich Purtell (Libertarian Party) earned 13.39 percent of the votes, or 153.

In the Town of Richford, Michael Hunt (Better Roads Party,R), defeated Harrison Marsh (Improve Roads Party) and Joseph Gorsline (Back Road Party) for Superintendent of Highways. Hunt had 176 votes, and Marsh had 146 and Gorsline had 10.

Also in Richford, Stephen Kotula (R) and Kenneth Miller (R) garnered the votes needed to fill two councilman seats. Kotula had 199 votes, Miller had 179, and William Stell, Sr. (D), was defeated with 159 votes.

In the Town of Spencer, Terri MacCheyne (R), with 247 votes, defeated Donna Burgh (Inalienable Rights Party for the position of Town Clerk. Burgh earned 167 votes.

There were also three proposals on the ballot on Tuesday, with Proposal One questioning voters on whether a Constitutional Convention should be held. As of 1 a.m., and with most of the precincts reporting, unofficial results from the New York State Board of Elections were showing that 79 percent of the voters do not want the convention. In Tioga County, 1,279 voted yes, and 7,455 voted no.

For Proposal Two, a proposition that would modify the state’s constitution to allow judges the discretion to strip the pensions from some elected officials convicted of felonies, a little over 66 percent of New York voters were in favor of this measure. In Tioga County, 6,976 voted yes, and 1,688 voted no.

Proposal Three, which would create a land “bank” of 250 acres to ease construction and repairs along roadways that are currently hamstrung due to strict land use rules in the forest preserves, was narrowly approved by voters at 46.38 percent. In Tioga County, 4,907 voted yes, and 3,635 voted no.