Griffin Crowned GOP Winner
By a narrow 3-vote margin, incumbent Michael Griffin won the Republican line in the Patterson town supervisor primary after a week of anticipation following the official tally of absentee ballots.
The race, which was labeled “too close to call” after Sept. 13’s primary election day, came down to the 37 absentee ballots. Before the Putnam County Board of Elections counted them this past Tuesday, Griffin held a 3-vote lead over challenger Joe Capasso, with 347 and 344 votes, respectively.
Because the town’s Conservative and Independence parties have endorsed Griffin, Capasso will need to seek an opportunity-to-ballot petition in order to run for town supervisor—a move the current town supervisor considers unlikely at this point in the game.
“I have all three lines on the ballot,” Griffin said. “[Capasso] can mount a write-in campaign, but I’m not sure how far that’s going to go.”
With no other challengers in the foreseeable future, Griffin said he feels good about his probable eighth term, but sees a wavering economy as one of the major obstacles Patterson will face in 2012.
“There’s an awful lot of work to do, with MS4 and some of the other unfunded mandates, a tough economy and tough budgets, and a 2 percent tax cap—it’s going to be some tough years ahead,” Griffin said. “But we have a great staff at town hall and throughout the town, and we’re going to be to fine.”
To combat this fiscal instability, Griffin plans to maintain low taxes for the town while keeping a watchful on spending. The 21-year Patterson town supervisor prides himself on averaging a “2 percent tax increase over the past 10 years.”
Besides the economy, Griffin views the Putnam Lake petition as a project the town will need take on in the future.
“I’m sure [the committee] has met the requirements and I would expect to have the petition finalized in a few weeks,” Griffin said. “The board will see what we can do to make improvements in the water quality and go forward with it from here.”
Capasso, who released an official statement the night of the primary claiming he was “confident of victory,” was unavailable for comment.
“This was not simply an election; it was an underdog movement by the people,” Capasso said in the statement.
The one-term Patterson Town Board member will see the end of his term this coming December.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.