TOMPKINS COUNTY, N.Y.—Here are the preliminary results of the 2023 Elections in Tompkins County. None of the results are finalized until affidavit and absent ballots are counted next week.
In the most prominent City of Ithaca races, Alderperson Robert Cantelmo will be the city’s next mayor after a comfortable victory, while Solidarity Slate member Kayla Matos (Democrat and Working Families Party) defeated Cynthia Brock again to preserve Matos’ claim to the First Ward’s four-year seat. Matos, a new face in Ithaca politics, had beaten Brock for the Democratic nomination in June before Brock, the longtime council member, had mounted a third-party campaign in the general election.
Two Common Council races could potentially swing with the counting of absentee and affidavit ballots. Jason Houghton (Ithacans for Progress) leads Clyde Lederman (Democrat and Working Families) by 23 votes in the Fifth Ward, with more than that remaining in affidavit and absentee ballots.
Meanwhile, Fourth Ward Alderperson Jorge DeFendini, also a Slate member, has 28 votes to 12 for write-in candidates, presumably Patrick Kuehl, the president of the Cornell University Student Assembly, who mounted a late write-in campaign. The margin is 16 votes with dozens of affidavit and absentee ballots remaining to be counted next week.
Incumbent Alderperson Phoebe Brown of the First Ward retained her seat against Republican Zachary Winn, while first-time candidate Pierre Saint-Perez, a Democrat, beat third-party candidate Pat Sewell for the Third Ward’s two-year seat.
The full results from around the county are published below, as of 6 a.m. Wednesday morning. More coverage will follow throughout the day Wednesday.
City of Ithaca
Mayor
Candidate
Vote percentage
Vote totals
Robert Cantelmo (Democrat, Working Families)
89.4%
3,128
Janis Kelly (Republican)
9.6%
336
Write-In – 1%
Common Council
Ward 1 (Two-year term)
Candidate
Vote %
Vote totals
Phoebe Brown (D, WF)
84.1%
1,119
Zachary Winn (R)
15.25%
203
Ward 1 (Four-year term)
Candidate
Vote %
Vote totals
Kayla Matos (D, WF)
53.9%
761
Cynthia Brock (Ithacans for Progress)
46.1%
652
Ward 2 (Four-year term)
Candidate
Vote %
Vote totals
Ducson Nguyen (D, WF)
99.17%
960
Ward 2 (Two-year term)
Candidate
Vote %
Vote totals
Kris Haines-Sharp (D, WF)
99.17%
961
Ward 3 (Two-year term)
Candidate
Vote %
Vote totals
Pat Sewell (Community Party)
35.24%
284
Pierre Saint-Perez (D)
64.6%
521
Ward 3 (Four-year team)
Candidate
Vote %
Vote totals
David Shapiro (D)
97.32%
691
Ward 4 (Four-year term)
Candidate
Vote %
Vote totals
Jorge DeFendini (D, WF)
70%
28
Write-in votes
30%
12
DeFendini was running unopposed, but a late write-in campaign and the reliably low turnout in the Fourth Ward seem to have put his position at risk. There is a margin of 16 in the race, in favor of DeFendini, but according to Tompkins County Board of Elections Commissioner Steve DeWitt there are 38 affidavit ballots in the race waiting to be counted. They will not be counted until next week, when results are finalized.
Ward 4 (Two-year term)
Candidate
Vote %
Vote totals
Tiffany Kumar (D, WF)
92.68%
38
Ward 5 (Two-year term)
Candidate
Vote %
Vote totals
Jason Houghton (Ithacans for Progress)
54.6%
137
Clyde Lederman (D, WF)
45.4%
114
There are more affidavit and absentee ballots remaining to be counted than the 23 votes that separate Houghton and Lederman, according to DeWitt. The results will not be finalized until those ballots are counted next week.
Ward 5 (Four-year term)
Candidate
Vote %
Vote totals
Margaret Fabrizio (D, Ithacans for Progress)
79.6%
195
Michelle Song (WF)
20%
49
Tompkins County
County Court Judge
Candidate
Vote %
Vote total
Joseph Cassidy (D)
99.39%
13,373
New York State
Supreme Court, 6th Judicial District
Candidate
Vote %
Vote totals
Cheryl Insinga (R)
48.98%
56,291
Deirdre Hay (D)
45.74%
52,572
595 of 595 Districts reporting
Town of Caroline
Supervisor
Candidate
Vote %
Vote totals
Mark Witmer (D, WF)
53.15%
734
Tonya VanCamp (Connecting Caroline)
46.78%
646
Town Clerk
Candidate
Vote %
Vote totals
Jessie Townsend (D, Caroline)
99.75%
1,209
Highway Superintendent
Candidate
Vote %
Vote totals
Bobby Spencer (D, Caroline)
98.83%
1,186
Town Councilperson (Four year term, vote for up to two)
