Newcomer beats county legislator in supervisor contest
Political newcomer Shannon Harris, a Democrat, won the race for town supervisor Tuesday night, 1,4881,399, defeating Republican Carl Belfiglio, who had given up his Ulster County Legislature seat to run for town office.
Harris, a self-employed business marketing consultant, also ran on the Green, Working Families and Esopus Forward party lines on the ballot, while Belfiglio also ran on the Conservative and Independence lines.
Belfiglio won a Town Board seat in 2007 and Ulster County Legislature seats in 2009, 2012 and 2015. A 24-year town resident, he is a computer network specialist for Ulster BOCES.
Two four-year terms for Town Board seats were won by incumbent Kathie Quick with 1,570 votes, and newcomer Chris Farrell, with 1,396. Both candidates ran on the Democratic, Green, Working Families and Esopus Forward lines.
Trailing in the Town Board contest were incumbent Wayne Freer, with 1,354 votes, and first-time candidate Jim Banks, who received 1,310 votes, running on the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines.
A two-year term to fill a Town Board vacancy was won by appointed Councilman Jared Geuss with 1,528 votes, Geuss ran on the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines. Kathy Kiernan was out of the running with 1,304 votes; she ran on the Democratic, Green, Working Families and Esopus Forward lines.
Uncontested races were won by Town Clerk Holly Netter, with 2,193 votes, to secure a second term; Tax Collector Bernice McNierney, who received 2,218 votes for a fifth term; and Town Justice Robert C. Grieco, who received 2,144 votes for a fourth term.