A Very Special Special Election Night [UPDATED X2]

What makes this night different from all the other nights?

Why, it’s Special Election Night!

New York State Senate District 27

Too close to call! David Storobin leads 52-48, with 43 percent of precincts reporting.

[UPDATE] Senate GOP source says Storobin is up 126 votes. Both candidates are reportedly giving victory speeches. This is going to a recount for sure.

[UPDATE X2] The Board of Elections says counting of absentee and affidavit ballots will begin next week, March 27. So for now, no winners.

Assembly District 93

Former Senate Democrat counsel Shelley Mayer wins the race against the GOP’s Donnamarie Nolan, who stopped campaigning after a family member fell ill.

Journal News:

YONKERS — With more than 80 percent of districts reporting, Democrat Shelley Mayer tonight easily defeated Republican Donna Nolan in a special election for the 93rd Assembly district seat in Yonkers.

The election was held to replace Michael Spano, who was elected mayor of Yonkers in November.

Nolan stopped campaigning for the seat after her father suffered a stroke, but her name still appeared on the ballot in the district, which includes most of Yonkers.

Assembly District 100

Frank Skartados vs. John Forman

Skartados lost a close race to Tom Kirwan in 2010, after picking up the seat in an upset in 2008. Skartados wins 61-39.

WFP Executive Director Dan Cantor pats himself on the back:

“Congratulations to Frank Skartados for his victory tonight. It’s always rewarding to have candidates you can really get excited about. Frank will be a voice in Albany who will stand up for ordinary working families. Knocking on thousands of doors to get out the vote for Skartados, we found that for most people, learning that one candidate supports raising the minimum wage and one doesn’t makes the choice pretty easy. We’re enormously encouraged by tonight’s victory. ”

Assembly District 103

Didi Barrett vs. Richard Wager – Too close to call.

AP:

MILLBROOK, N.Y. — The race between Democrat Didi Barrett and Republican Rich Wager is too close to call in the contest for New York‘s 103rd Assembly District in Dutchess and Columbia Counties.

The winner will succeed Republican Marcus Molinaro, who was elected Dutchess County executive in 2011.

With 78 percent of the precincts reporting, Wager had 51 percent and Barrett 49 percent.

Barrett is a community activist and has been active in several not-for-profit organizations in the Hudson Valley. Wager worked in the administrations of New York City mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg and currently is a consultant with an investment management firm.

There were four other races Tuesday, three for vacant Assembly seats and one in the Senate. All the seats will be up for a full two-year term in November.

Assembly District 145

Michael Kearns, a Democrat running on the Republican line, defeated Christopher Fahey in what the Buffalo News called “a stunning upset.”

From the Buffalo News’s Robert McCarthy:

“The win, meanwhile, deals a sharp blow to the political prestige of Rep. Brian Higgins, for whom Fahey worked as a top staff aide. Higgins’ extensive political operation had worked overtime for Fahey, and the congressman personally appeared on television ads emphasizing his support.

Though Kearns stressed throughout the campaign that he is a confirmed Democrat, he chose to run on the Republican line after Democratic leaders refused to endorse him.

And while he promised to caucus with the Assembly’s Democratic majority if he won Tuesday’s election, he vowed not to support Manhattanite Sheldon Silver as speaker. In fact, he ran his own TV ads portraying Fahey as a puppet on strings controlled by the speaker — perhaps buoyed by poll results that campaign insiders said showed Silver faring very poorly.

It also represents a win — of sorts — for Erie County Republican Chairman Nicholas A. Langworthy, who supported Democrat Kearns in the face of some criticism from party purists.

Political observers originally gave Fahey the edge in Tuesday’s voting because turnout — as projected turnout was light, and since no other contests were on the ballot. Because Fahey was the endorsed candidate, it was expected the Democratic Party would work hard to turn out its most-committed voters.”