Magee wins 13th term in state assembly

By Jason Emerson

Editor

Assemblyman Bill Magee for a second time fended off a strong challenge to his assembly seat from Brookfield Town Supervisor John Salka and in the process won reelection to his 13th term in the state legislature.

With all 95 voting directs counted, Magee received 24,818 votes, or 49.28 percent, to 22,975 votes, or 45.62 percent for Salka. There were also 2,525 ballots left blank, or 5.01 percent, along with 30 voided votes and 17 write-ins.

“I want to thank the residents of the 121st Assembly District for re-electing me, and for rewarding me with their trust. Despite all the negativity and the attack ads, I was humbled by the many volunteers and supporters who encouraged me to continue a positive campaign,” Magee said. “I am pleased that our campaign remained focused on accomplishments and goal, and I am grateful and thankful to have won this election. I look forward to continuing to serve the residents of the 121st Assembly District with continued integrity, leadership and expertise.”

Salka also thanked his supporters and called his candidacy a “fantastic experience.”

“I am proud of the campaign that we ran. We discussed the issues, I brought my opponent’s record to light based on facts and the truth and I will continue to watch what our assemblyman is doing in Albany,” Salka said. “By the following that we developed over the past months, I can only believe we had the message that people want to hear-that we can get government back to the people of the 121st. I look forward to continuing this fight and I look forward to re-energizing the 121st assembly district.”

Out of 50,365 total votes cast in this assembly election, Magee won by 1,843 votes, or about 3.6 percent.

According to the Madison County Board of Elections, within the three towns in the greater Cazenovia area — Cazenovia, Nelson and Fenner — Magee received more votes in Cazenovia and Nelson, while Salka received more votes in Fenner.

This year’s election saw a much higher voter turnout than the Magee/Salka race in 2014, with an additional 20,000 people voting throughout the three-county assembly district, according to election statistics. Within Cazenovia’s six voting districts, voter participation was above 70 percent, according to figures obtained from the three Cazenovia polling sites.