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HARRISON, N.Y. - Supervisor challenger Ron Belmont led a Republican sweep Tuesday in the Harrison town elections, according unofficial results from the County Board of Elections.
If the totals hold, Harrison will have a completely Republican town board.
As of 11 p.m. Tuesday night, unofficial results showed Belmont with a comfortable lead over Democrat incumbent Joan Walsh with 85 percent of the Harrison districts reporting.
"I'm very humbled to be chosen me to be their leader for the next two years," Belmont said. "I'm going to work as hard as I can to be a very good mayor."
Walsh did not concede as of 11 p.m. Tuesday night, citing that several votes were still uncounted, including absentee votes and those from broken machines reported in districts 7, 9 and 14.
"I'm surprised by some of the votes," Walsh said. "But it's not over yet. I'm going to wait until tomorrow."
Town justice candidate Marc Lust appeared comfortably in front of the other three candidates Tuesday night, with Ronald Bianchi and Nelson Canter tied close behind him for the second seat.. Pasquale Gizzo received the fewest votes with at least a thousand less than his three opponents.
The Walsh Team's Row-A ticket included town council candidates Howard Hollander and Pat Vetere and town clerk candidate Frank Corvino (D), who received less votes than Belmont Team council candidates Stephen Malfitano, Fred Sciliano and clerk candidate Jackie Greer (R).
"This was a phenomenal effort," Malfitano said at Belmont headquarters amidst loud cheering and celebrations. "We did everything we could. I'm looking forward to serving with a five-to-none Republican board."
The race centered around several key issues, with the image of Harrison being a focal point of debate. The Belmont Team campaign included a large discussion on restoring "Harrison's once great image," according to Belmont's initial statement when he announced his candidacy.
Walsh's campaign centered on keeping the town's budget under control and moving the downtown revitalization project forward by moving the Metropolitan Transportation Authority renovation plans further. Belmont, who was also in favor of revitalizing Harrison's downtown, remained cautious with hopes to approach the issue more carefully.
The campaign was said by residents to be more gritty than in years past with harsh political ads and rhetoric. Some of Walsh's campaign ads went as far as being deemed "unfair" by the Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee in October.
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