Assembly member David Gantt survived a primary challenge from two opponents and will now face Green Party candidate Drew Langdon in the November general election.
Gantt received 3,278 votes with all of the election districts reporting. That was more than the combined total received by his opponents; City school board member Jose Cruz received 952 votes while County Legislator John Lightfoot received 519 votes. The results are not final.
Cruz and Lightfoot argued that Gantt hasn’t been representing the district well in Albany. In particular, they said he’s ignored the town of Gates. But Gantt’s supporters came out, particularly toward the end of the race, and talked about the many organizations and programs that have benefitted from Gantt’s advocacy. Gantt has represented the district and its predecessors since 1983.
Gantt’s victory appears to indicate that he’s still popular in his district. But turnout for today’s primary was low. State Board of Elections records show that there are 38,921 active registered Democrats in the 137th Assembly District. Only 4,749 of those Democrats were accounted for.
In a statement, Langdon congratulated Gantt on his victory.
“However, the fact remains that many voters are unsatisfied with the vision for Rochester that Mr. Gantt has brought us for nearly 30 years,” Langdon said in the statement. “I look forward to continuing my campaign and providing an alternative in November to the status quo that Gantt’s time in office represents.”
Langdon said he’s running on issues of economic democracy; expanding worker-owned businesses for example.
This article appears in Show Time: The Rochester Fringe Festival.
