Delaware County primaries: Two supervisors lose GOP ballot lines

Five Delaware County towns held primary elections on Tuesday: Andes, Colchester, Delhi, Kortright and Middletown. Unofficial results are in for all five, although two races are close enough that absentee ballots that have yet to be counted could shift the balance.

In both Colchester and Delhi, challengers bested sitting town supervisors in Republican primaries.

Colchester's Arthur Merrill beat supervisor Cindy Donofrio by 117 to 100, with four write-in votes and 25 absentee ballots still outstanding.

In Delhi, challenger Mark Tuthill beat supervisor Pete Bracci by 143 to 122, with 28 absentee ballots still outstanding. Both incumbent supervisors will appear on independent lines in the November election, but without major party endorsement.

Middletown supervisor Marge Miller fared better in a primary contest against Nelson Delameter for the Democratic nomination, winning 164 votes to Delameter's 44. Miller and Delameter will face off again in the November election, as Delameter has the endorsement of the town Republican party. 

Andes, Colchester, Delhi and Kortright had town council candidates running in the primary, with voters choosing two candidates from a larger slate. In Andes, Thomas Joyce and R. Dale Cole won the Democratic primary resoundingly, taking 72 votes each. Samuel Fundaro received 5 votes. 

In Kortright's Republican primary, Jeffrey Haynes and Margaret Kenyon were the top vote-getters, with 60 and 49 votes respectively; John Every trailed with 29 votes. Only 10 absentee ballots are still outstanding in Kortright.

Republican primary races for town council nominations in Colchester and Delhi were too close to call without counting absentee ballots. In Colchester, Mark Mattson emerged as a clear winner, with 162 votes; Julie Markert had 118 votes, and Alan Donner 116.

Delhi's Thomas Little secured a Republican nomination with 188 votes, while James Bracci and Kevin Lee nearly tied, with Bracci receiving 139 votes and Lee 137.

All results reported by the Delaware County Board of Elections are still unofficial. County election officials say the absentee ballots will be counted on Friday. 

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