The 25th Congressional District will continue to be represented by a Democrat.
Joe Morelle, the longtime state Assembly member from Irondequoit, defeated Republican Jim Maxwell, according to unofficial results from the Monroe County Board of Elections.
Morelle took the stage at the Monroe County Democratic Headquarters set up at the Hyatt Tuesday night as the crowd erupted in cheers. With his family behind him, he said America is at a crossroads but our community chose the path of unity.
"I think Americans are just unhappy with the insults, the vitriol, the anger and so many people want a change in tone. We can disagree without being disagreeable. "
Morelle will both fill out the remainder of the late Louise Slaughter’s term and serve his own two-year term. Voters in the district cast votes Tuesday for both terms.
He remembered his predecessor while celebrating his win.
"To have the opportunity to succeed her, of course not under the circumstances we would have wanted, but to be able to finish her term and start a new term is just very important to all of us, and i want to carry on that legacy of hard work of integrity and of commitment to this community."
Slaughter had held the seat for three decades.
Morelle had been in the state Assembly since 1991, and was majority leader in that chamber. When Morelle won the Democratic primary in June for the congressional seat, he said his victory showed that voters in the district value experience.
Maxwell, a neurosurgeon from East Rochester, was making his first run for public office.
WXXI’s Veronica Volk was at Republican headquarters Tuesday night in Downtown Rochester, and has this story.
The first-time political candidate was confident at the start of the night, even dancing to live music at the republican headquarters in at the riverside hotel in Rochester, and, he later admitted, did not prepare a concession speech. So instead, he read his victory speech, with some minor adjustments.
“A year ago, at the beginning of the race they asked me if I thought I could win; I responded, why would I give up a career as a neurosurgeon, clean out every penny bank, every account I own, throw it into the race, and enter a grueling cycle of speeches, town halls and fundraisers if I didn’t believe I could win. Guess what, I didn’t win."
Maxwell says, overall, he’s thankful for the experience of running.
“I believed in my campaign , I worked very, very hard, the campaign has been hard , but it has completely drawn me out of any comfort zone I had; along the way, I’ve gone places, seen things, met people, wonderful places, wonderful things , wonderful people I never would have before without the race, and for that, I am personally very grateful”
Maxwell was the underdog candidate, and never fully threw his support behind President Trump.
Joe Morelle will begin his congressional term immediately.