David Bellavia won MonroeCounty
in the 27th Congressional District Republican primary, but he lost
district-wide. FormerErieCounty Executive Chris Collins will
be the Republican Party’s candidate against incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul.
Erie and NiagaraCounties, which is where many of
the district’s voters are concentrated, went heavily for Collins. Bellavia’s
support tended to come from the rural counties.
Without being able to read voters’ minds, there’s not much of a conclusion
to draw, except that the majority of voters preferred Collins as a candidate.
Name recognition could have been a factor; Collins got a lot of media exposure
during his years leading ErieCounty.
Otherwise, both candidates had conservative positions that would have resonated
with Republican primary voters.
And it’s not like we’re talking about a large voting group: in MonroeCounty’s part of the district,
turnout was about 9 percent. Bellavia got 406 votes, plus another 12 from
absentee ballots, while Collins got 217 votes, plus another 16 from absentee
ballots.
Turnout was even lower for the statewide US Senate primary. Countywide,
approximately 6 percent of registered Republicans cast a ballot. Attorney Wendy
Long won the county and the state by a huge margin, beating Congress member Bob
Turner and Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos. Though registered
Conservatives couldn’t vote in the election, the backing of the state
Conservative Party probably helped Long.
She’ll face Democratic incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand in the general election.
Unofficial results for the races are available here,
while the absentee ballot counts are available here.
This article appears in Jun 27 – Jul 3, 2012.
