In the race for Brighton town supervisor, challenger Nate Salzman narrowly bested incumbent Bill Moehle for the town Democratic committee designation Wednesday night.
The committee meeting lasted four hours, party officials said, and the supervisor designation required two rounds of voting.
A simple majority is needed to secure the party backing. Invalidated and write-in ballots made the difference.
Moehle won the first round by three votes, but that didn’t get him above 50%. He lost the second round by the same margin, according to party officials. But there were fewer invalidated and write-in ballots in the second round, allowing Salzman to eke out the win with 50.4% of the total.
“I am deeply honored and grateful for the confidence the committee has placed in me,” Salzman said in a news release. “This vote shows that Brighton Democrats are ready for tomorrow.”
In the release, the Salzman campaign characterized the vote as a "decisive shift," and quoted Clara Sanguinetti, Brighton Democratic Committee member and Town Board member, saying the designation “represents a clear mandate for change."
With the designation, Salzman, 33, a first-term Town Board member, will receive the party’s help with petitioning to gather the needed signatures to be placed on the June primary ballot. Moehle, 70, is in his eighth term, making him the second longest-serving town supervisor in Monroe County, behind Chili’s David Dunning.
