Challenger widens lead in comptroller race
Democrat Robin Lois has widened her election lead over Republican Dutchess County Comptroller James Coughlan as absentee ballots are counted.
On Wednesday, the last day of ballot counting this week, county Democratic Elections Commissioner Marco Caviglia said Lois was “well over 500 [votes] ahead of Couglan. Lois led by 412 at the end of Election Day.
The counting resumes Monday.
There still are too many outstanding absentee ballots remaining to count Coughlan out, but Caviglia said “it would be astonishing” if the incumbent turned the race around.
“I wouldn’t expect it,” Caviglia he. “It would be astonishing if suddenly things started going his way.”
A total of 3,884 absentee ballots were issued countywide.
As of Wednesday, absentee ballots in all but a handful of towns, including the town of Poughkeepsie, had been counted, Caviglia said.
Because of the number of outstanding ballots, it still was mathematically possible for Coughlan to win, but Caviglia said that “statistically, that would be very difficult to do.”
Coughlan, 49, is serving his second four-year term as the county’s fiscal watchdog. He said that during his tenure, he worked with the administration and the county Legislature to hold the line on taxes, restore the county’s bond rating and cut the county’s operating deficit.
Lois, 48, ran a campaign critical of Coughlan’s record, saying that during his eight years as comptroller the number of audits conducted by the Comptroller’s Office dropped by 57 percent.
An accountant, Lois said she would bring to the office more than 30 years of accounting, auditing and budget management experience and provide independent checks and balances to the Republican county executive and GOPled Legislature.