Although Races Not Officially Certified, Democrat Assemblywoman and Republican State Senator Maintain Sizeable Leads

With thousands of mail-in ballots yet to be processed, neither elections for the 125th district in the New York State Assembly nor the 58th district of the State Senate have officially been called. However, Anne Kelles (D) is ahead in the State Assembly race and Tom O’Mara (R-N.Y.) is ahead in the State Senate race.

Kelles, Kopko Lead Election Night Returns, but Surge in Absentee Ballots Means Winner Won’t Be Known for Weeks

Tompkins County Legislator Anna Kelles garnered 34.1 percent of the vote in the seven-person assembly primary, followed by Ithaca Common Council Alderperson Seph Murtagh Ph.D. ’09 (D-2nd Ward) with 20.2 percent. In the primary for Tompkins County District Attorney, local lawyer Ed Kopko led incumbent Matthew Van Houten with 57.5 percent of the vote.

Local Activist Anna Kelles to Draw on Community Organizing Past if Elected to Legislature

Local Ithaca resident and activist Anna Kelles is running as an independent candidate to represent the second district in the Tompkins County Legislature. The Fall Creek district includes parts of North Campus and lower Collegetown and is home to many students and affiliates of the University. Kelles will run against Democratic candidate Nate Shinagawa ’05, who resigned from his position representing the fourth district in the Tompkins County Legislature so he could run to represent the second district. According to Kelles, it is important to create policies which encourage landowners to update their properties, as it would create affordable and livable conditions for students and residents of Ithaca. “Having someone in office that understands that people need a home and people need a certain quality of life, [and] that anytime I have an opportunity to update policies to do that I always will,” Kelles said.