By Mike Pettinella
For Video News Service
Updated with comments from Robert Bialkowski:
Political newcomer Laurie Mancuso soundly defeated incumbent Rochelle Stein in Tuesday night’s Republican Party primary race for the Town of Le Roy’s representative on the Genesee County Legislature.
According to unofficial results posted on the Genesee County Board of Elections website, Mancuso tallied 340 votes to Stein’s 121 – a nearly 3-to-1 margin of victory in the legislative District No. 5 contest.
This means that Mancuso’s name will be on the Republican Party line for the November ballot. Previously, she garnered the Le Roy Conservative Party endorsement.
Stein, who is the chair of the Genesee County Legislature, will continue in her bid to remain on the legislature under the Responsible Government Party banner in November.
Voting by the Town of Le Roy’s eight precincts was as follows:
Precinct 1 – Mancuso 25, Stein 7.
Precinct 2 – Mancuso 31, Stein 9.
Precinct 3 – Mancuso 35, Stein 20.
Precinct 4 – Mancuso 37, Stein 4.
Precinct 5 – Mancuso 73, Stein 14.
Precinct 6 – Mancuso 83, Stein 21.
Precinct 7 – Mancuso 15, Stein 6.
Precinct 8 – Mancuso 41, Stein 40.
Dr. George Vito, who dropped out of the race in early June, received two votes, and one vote was listed under the Write-in category.
In the Republican Party primary for Genesee County Legislature District No. 9, representing City of Batavia Wards 4 and 5, Robert Bialkowski tallied 78 votes while Kathleen Briggs received 34 votes.
Voting by precinct:
Ward 4, Precinct 1 – Bialkowski 14, Briggs 5.
Ward 4, Precinct 2 – Bialkowski 49, Briggs 10.
Ward 4, Precinct 3 – Bialkowski 6, Briggs 3.
Ward 5, Precinct 1 – Briggs 6, Bialkowski 5.
Ward 5, Precinct 2 – Briggs 9, Bialkowski 3.
Ward 5, Precinct 3 – Briggs 1, Bialkowski 1.
Bialkowski, an At-Large City Councilman, and Briggs, who represents Ward 5 on City Council, were seeking the legislative seat currently held by Gary Maha, who previously announced that he will be stepping down after serving since 2018.
“I did it the hard way; went door-to-door and handed out flyers, knocked on doors, called people on the phone and the voters spoke,” Bialkowski said on Wednesday morning.
He said he looks forward to serving out his term as councilman – “I’m here to serve the people in that position, and hopefully at the first of the year, I will start my term as legislator.”
Currently, no one has declared as a Democrat candidate, he said.
Bialkowski acknowledged that the voter turnout was low, attributing it to “an offseason primary, nothing spectacular and (the weather) hotter than heck.”
In the Republican Party primary for Town of Byron supervisor, Jeffrey Thompson received 145 votes to Candace Hensel’s 80 votes, and in the Republican Party primary for Town of Byron Highway superintendent, David Leaton Jr. tallied 136 votes to George Heins’ 89 votes.