While Murphy Loses, Other State Pols in Putnam Keep Seats
While NYS Sen. Terrence Murphy was ousted from his seat Tuesday night, other state representatives that cover parts of Putnam County retained their seats.
NYS Sen. Sue Serino and Assemblyman Kevin Byrne, both Republicans, and Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, a Democrat, all secured another two years on the state legislature on Election Day.
Serino appears to have won in dramatic fashion, only topping Democrat Karen Smythe 49.91 percent to 48.02 percent. Smythe is awaiting absentee ballots to be counted before she concedes, though Serino declared victory. Byrne easily cruised to another term, beating Democrat Vedat Gashi with 54 percent of the vote and Galef also won overwhelmingly with 65 percent of the vote over Republican Lawrence Chiulli.
For the first time in almost a decade, Democrats will have a majority in all three branches of state government, maintaining control of the governor’s mansion after Andrew Cuomo won reelection, and keeping control of the assembly. The state senate also turned blue after several GOP incumbents, including Murphy from the 40th district, were beat.
