Democrat candidate Angela Epolito will remain in her office as DeWitt Town Clerk, winning the position against Republican opponent Karen Beseth by nearly 1,000 votes.

Results show Epolito with 4,516 votes to Beseth’s 3,521.

“I’m very excited and speechless at this point,” Epolito said. “I’d like to thank the DeWitt Democratic committee as well as the Conservative committee. My friends and family were also a huge help to my campaign.”

According the the Onondaga County Board of Elections, Epolito won with 56.17 percent of the vote to Beseth’s 43.79 percent. The turnout of this race was about 8,000 voters.

In July 2014, Epolito was appointed to fill out the remainder of the town clerk term after Barbara Klim retired from the position she held for 17 years. With this Election Day win, Epolito will remain in the position for a two-year term.

Epolito has been a town employee for 14 years, serving as assistant to the supervisor, town manager, town engineer and secretary to the zoning board.

“As my first time running it was intimidating but I ran on my experience and the 14 years I’ve worked for the town,” said Epolito. “We both did our best and I’m glad the election is over.”

On September 23, the Town of DeWitt held a referendum that decided in a 2-to-1 vote to keep the town clerk as an elected rather than appointed position.

Beseth was chosen as the Republican candidate in early September before the referendum and was also endorsed by the Independent party.

“I congratulate Angela and the town board on their win. And I’m thrilled for John Katko on his win,” Beseth said.

Beseth, who has 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, and has been an office manager, bookkeeper and accountant for her husband’s contracting business since 2008.

According to DeWitt Town’s website, duties of the Town Clerk include acting as a licensing agent for several New York State agencies, as a passport agent for the United States Department of State, as the town’s Records Management Officer, as its Freedom of Information Law Officer, and as Clerk of both the Town Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Hayleigh Gowans is a reporter for the Eagle Bulletin. She can be reached at [email protected].