BY ANDREW MARTIN KOLSTEE
Election results for the 2017 general election have been released. None of these are official as they are not all counted yet or published as the final results on their respective Board of Elections websites, but this should give everyone an idea as to how well Libertarian candidates did in 2017.
41,991 votes were cast for 18 Libertarians in New York State. Here is the breakdown.
In Batavia, Mark Potwora (492 votes; 24.02%), Jim Rosenbeck (498 votes; 24.32%), and Lisa Whitehead (420 votes; 20.51%) ran for city council. There were a total of seven candidates, and three spots. Their percentages are a record-breaking performance for Libertarian candidates in Genesee County.
Chautauqua County’s first Libertarian candidate, Nathen Conrad, ran for Town of Carroll Council. There were four candidates and two seats up for election. With 475 votes, Conrad came in third place. He had a vote percentage of 46.89%.
In New York City, Aaron Commey ran for mayor and received 2,635 votes (0.24%). Devin Balkind, running for Public Advocate, received 6,446 votes (0.61%). Alex Merced, running for Comptroller, received 5,810 votes (0.56%). Don Garrity, running for City Council District 2, received 399 votes (1.74%). Brian Waddell, running for Manhattan Borough President, received 4,409 votes (1.82%).
In Onondaga County, Derek Shepard ran for County Legislature District 13 and received 1,647 votes (28.64%). In that same county, in the Town of Van Buren, Darcie Lesniak won a spot on the Town Board with 1,945 votes (31.34%).
In the Town of Owego in Tioga County, Rich Purtell received 719 votes (22.74%).
In Rochester, the Libertarian Party had two candidates for City Council. Andrew Hollister had 5,508 votes (9.51%) and Chris Edes had 1,459 votes (2.52%).
In Suffolk County, Sheriff candidate Peter J. Krauss received 4,613 votes (1.62%). Chris Garvey, running for District Attorney, received 4,295 votes (1.46%). Robert Schuon, running for County Legislature’s District 13, received 123 votes (0.86%).
Additionally, the Suffolk County Libertarian Party endorsed several candidates, including Rudolph Sunderman, Tom Cilmi, Stephen J. Flotteron, Leslie Kennedy, and Robert Trotta, who won their races for Suffolk County Legislature. James O’Connor won his race for Islip Town Council.
Andrew Martin Kolstee is a writer, genealogist, historian, and political activist. He has been registered as a Libertarian since 2010 and is a member of the Libertarian Party at the national, state, and local levels. He is the Editor of the LPNY Blog, Chair of the Chautauqua County Libertarian Party, and also serves as representative of his county to the Libertarian Party of New York State Committee. In 2017, he was appointed Communications Director for the LPNY and continues to serve in that capacity as well as a member of several committees.