The 2016 local and state primaries saw some incumbents win, some races too close to call, and a very unusual contest.
The contest that has befuddled casual observers is the one for the 133rd State Assembly Republican Primary; that is the seat that had been held by Bill Nojay, who committed suicide last Friday. He was facing a primary against Honeoye Falls Mayor Rick Milne, and Nojay's name stayed on the ballot in that district which covers parts of Monroe, Livingston and Steuben Counties.
Nojay won handily, by a 60 to 39 percent margin, with much of that strength coming in Livingston and Steuben Counties. That means that the GOP Party Chairmen in the three counties will pick a candidate to run in November.
Another closely watched contest was the Democratic Primary in the 138th district Assembly race. Incumbent Democrat Harry Bronson defeated former TV reporter and anchor Rachel Barnhart by a 54 to 45 percent margin.
On the Republican side of that 138th district, it is too close to call. Peter Vazquez, who was running for the 3rd time in that district, led GOP-endorsed candidate Bob Zinck by just a handful of votes with absentee ballots still to be counted.
In the State Senate, 54th District Republican Primary for the seat now held by longtime Senator Mike Nozzolio who is not seeking re-election, Canandaigua Town Supervisor Pam Helming was leading her next closest challenger in that 5-way race, Floyd Rayburn, by 190 votes.
Also in the State Senate, in the 61st District, there was a primary for the Working Families Party nomination, and Thomas Loughran and a wide lead over Andre Liszka.
In the primaries for Monroe County Court Judge, Melissa Barrett was the apparent winner in a Democratic Primary over Matt Nafus, and in the Working Families Primary for that same seat, Sam Valleriani was the apparent winner.
That means in November, there will be a three-way contest with Valleriani on the Republican, Independence, Conservative, Working Families and Reform lines; Barrett will run as a Democrat and Nafus remains on the ballot on the Women's Equality line.
