Nneji holds slim lead, declares victory; Kavanagh doesn’t concede as hundreds of votes still to be counted – Daily Freeman
KINGSTON, N.Y. — Despite holding only a razor-thin lead, Democrat Emmanuel Nneji on Tuesday declared victory in the hard-fought race for the Ulster County District attorney.
But with the potential of a mandatory recount on the horizon and absentee and affidavit ballots still to be counted, Michael Kavanagh said he’s not prepared to concede the race, which remains too close to call.
In unofficial results with 100% of the precincts reporting on Election Day, Nneji tallied 23,631 votes to Kavanagh’s 23,436 votes.
That tally changed Wednesday when the Board of Elections counted 302 of the still-outstanding absentee ballots cast in the race.
With the inclusion of those ballots, Kavanagh closed the gap by a single vote 23,774-23,580, a spread of 194 votes.
On Election night, Nneji’s campaign manager Evan Holland-Shepler said Kavanagh was mathematically excluded from a victory.
“We have meticulously analyzed the outstanding ballots and have concluded there is no feasible path to victory for our opponent,” Holland-Shepler said. “Manny Nneji is currently leading by 195 votes. 302 absentee ballots are yet to be counted and the majority of those are Democratic. Therefore, Manny Nneji will be our next Ulster County District attorney.”
“Tonight, Manny Nneji and the residents of Ulster County made history by coming together to elect our first Black countywide elected official,” he said.
In making that declaration, Nneji’s campaign failed to consider the hundreds of absentee and affidavit ballots still to be counted.
Democratic Elections Commissioner Ashley Dittus said elections commissioners will count an additional 102 absentee ballots on Thursday. On Monday, they will count as many of the 459 affidavit ballots as commissioners determine were validly cast, she said.
Absentee ballots can still be received by the Board of Elections through Nov. 22 provided they are postmarked by Nov. 7.
Dittus said 4,310 voters requested absentee ballots, although she doesn’t expect all those to be returned.
“There are more that could come back, but they have to have a Nov. 7 postmark,” said Dittus. “As we get further away from yesterday’s Election Day, the amount of absentee ballots that we count will diminish.”
Given the number of ballots still outstanding, Kavanagh said he isn’t willing to surrender the race. “I’m not (conceding) because from what I understand there’s still a significant number of absentee and affidavit ballots that need to be counted,” he said.
“Coming this close twice is obviously a bitter pill to swallow, but I couldn’t be more proud of my team and the tremendous support we got,” said Kavanagh after the Election Day results were reported.
attorney candidate Michael Kavanagh at The Republican gathering at the Brickmen Kitchen + Bar in Uptown Kingston on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. (Patricia Doxsey/Daily Freeman)” width=”4032″ data-sizes=”auto” src=”https://i0.wp.com/www.dailyfreeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/DFN-L-goo-10.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1″ data-attachment-id=”1084265″ srcset=”https://i0.wp.com/www.dailyfreeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/DFN-L-goo-10.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1 620w,https://i0.wp.com/www.dailyfreeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/DFN-L-goo-10.jpg?fit=780%2C9999px&ssl=1 780w,https://i0.wp.com/www.dailyfreeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/DFN-L-goo-10.jpg?fit=810%2C9999px&ssl=1 810w,https://i0.wp.com/www.dailyfreeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/DFN-L-goo-10.jpg?fit=1280%2C9999px&ssl=1 1280w,https://i0.wp.com/www.dailyfreeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/DFN-L-goo-10.jpg?fit=1860%2C9999px&ssl=1 1860w”/>Ulster County District attorney candidate Michael Kavanagh at The Republican gathering at the Brickmen Kitchen + Bar in Uptown Kingston on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. (Patricia Doxsey/Daily Freeman)
If the election result stands, Tuesday’s defeat will mark the second loss for Kavanagh in his quest to become the county’s top law enforcement officer.
In 2019, Kavanagh, who was a registered Republican at the time, lost to Democrat David Clegg by 78 votes.
The result of that race wasn’t determined until Jan. 9 and followed a mandatory hand recount of the ballots that was triggered by the narrow margin between the two men.
Dittus said there is currently a 0.42% margin between Nneji and Kavanagh. A mandatory recount will be triggered if, after all the outstanding ballots are counted, that margin is 0.5% or less.
However, she said that as a result of changes to state election law, the Board of Elections can begin the recount process once all the ballots have been counted, rather than have to wait until the results of the race are certified, meaning that the final outcome will be known by early December.
The race between Nneji and Kavanagh – who had once been colleagues in the District attorney’s Office – had become bitter at times, with both men accusing each other and the district attorneys they worked under of mismanaging the office and creating a hostile work environment.
Kavanagh was critical of the Clegg administration and of Nneji’s record as one of the most senior assistant district attorneys in the office, noting that under Clegg’s administration, the office has had dozens of cases dismissed because it failed to meet state-mandated deadlines and for failure to prosecute and has also lost several high-profile murder cases.
Nneji, meanwhile, had accused Kavanagh of distorting the facts, deceiving voters, and defaming public servants. He also blamed Kavanagh for the failures in the Clegg administration, saying it was up to Kavanagh to establish the programs and protocols the office was to follow in order to adhere to new state-mandated deadlines.
Editor’s note: This story was updated throughout.
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