By Mark Wozniak
Buffalo, NY – In the wake of the county budget crisis, several county legislators have declined to seek re-election. But one who did, Lynn Marinelli, defeated challenger Joseph Kennedy in the County Legislature's 11th district in Tuesday's Democratic primary.
She says lawmakers will have a very busy time ahead, especially with the release yesterday of Joel Giambra's four year fiscal plan calling for sharp increases in property taxes.
Legislature Chairman George Holt scored a narrow victory over several challengers for his 3rd district seat.
But another incumbent, Timothy Wroblewski, trails Cynthia Lockler in the 9th district. About 70 percent of the votes are on paper ballots and have yet to be counted.
In other Legislature races, incumbents Demone Smith and Timothy Kennedy won, Newcomers who won their Democratic primaries include Daniel Kozub in the 1st, Maria Whyte in 6th, Michele Iannello in the 10th, and Thomas Loughran in the 14th. Robert Reynolds holds a three vote lead in the 12th district, where ballots are still being counted.
In Republican primaries, James Liegl holds a one vote lead over Janet Schumer in the 12th district, pending the count of paper ballots. Bruce Kaiser won in the 10th district. And incumbent Michael Ranzenhofer beat back a challenge in his re-election bid in the 4th district.