Prentice and Rauch Secure Democratic Victory in Key Races

Cheah will also appear on November ballot as independent

Nat Prentice and Ned Rauch won the two Democratic lines on Tuesday (June 24) for the Philipstown Town Board, setting up a three-way race in the fall.

Rauch, who was endorsed by the Philipstown Democratic Committee, will appear on the Democratic and independent Philipstown Focus lines. He edged John Maasik by 24 votes for the Democratic line.

Ben Cheah, the other candidate endorsed by the Democratic Committee, also will appear on the November ballot on the Philipstown Focus line. Cheah and Rauch filed independent petitions by a May deadline, putting their names on the general-election ballot regardless of the primary results. There are no candidates from other parties.

Voters had to be among the 3,597 residents in Philipstown registered with the Putnam County Board of Elections as Democrats. The turnout was 31 percent. The Board of Elections said some votes remain to be counted, such as affidavit ballots filed at the two polling sites and absentee ballots postmarked by June 24 that arrive by Tuesday (July 1). The results below are unofficial until certified.

Voters had to be among the 3,597 residents in Philipstown registered with the Putnam County Board of Elections as Democrats. Turnout was 31 percent. The Board of Elections said some votes remain to be counted, such as affidavit ballots filed at the two polling sites and absentee ballots postmarked by June 24 that arrive by Tuesday (July 1). The results below are unofficial until certified .

Democratic

Nat Prentice 631 (29%)

Ned Rauch 543 (25%)

John Maasik 519 (24%)

Ben Cheah 467 (22%)

In a statement on Wednesday, the Philipstown Democratic Committee congratulated Prentice and Rauch, thanked all four candidates and said it looked forward “to supporting our candidates in doing the good work.”

It added that, “as a committee, we are disappointed that our candidate Ben Cheah was not selected yesterday; we thank him for the passion, hard work and thoughtfulness for service to the town he put into this campaign.”

The committee did not respond to an email asking whether it would endorse Prentice.

In a statement on Wednesday, Maasik said, “I’m proud that the non-endorsed candidates combined for the majority of the votes and gave the town a choice in this election.” He added: “The community deserved to have an opportunity to see all four candidates at one forum to better understand our similarities and differences, and I wish we could have made that happen.”

Two Cold Spring residents invited all four candidates to a June 18 forum at their home, but Rauch declined the invitation on behalf of himself and Cheah, telling Marianne Sutton and David Watson that “Ben and I are unavailable on the 18th. With just two weeks remaining until the primary, our schedule is already packed.” Watson said about 25 people attended to hear Prentice and Maasik.

Jason Angell and Megan Cotter, Democrats elected to the Town Board in 2021, did not seek second terms. John Van Tassel, who is running unopposed for his third term as supervisor, will appear in November on the Democratic and Philipstown Focus lines.

Because of a new state law that pushes most town and village elections to even-numbered years, the winners of the two open seats will serve until 2028, or three years, rather than four. At the same time, the supervisor position, usually a two-year term, will be on the ballot again next year.

Putnam Valley

Jacqueline Annabi, the Putnam Valley supervisor, fought off a challenge for the Republican line from Stephanie Waters. Annabi will face Alison Jolicoeur, the Democratic candidate, in November.

Republican

Jacqueline Annabi 301 (54%)

Stephanie Waters 258 (46%)

Putnam County

There will be three open seats on the nine-member Legislature, which has eight Republicans and one Democrat (Nancy Montgomery, who represents Philipstown and part of Putnam Valley). Each member serves a three-year term.

In District 5, which includes the hamlet of Carmel and eastern Lake Carmel, Jake D’Angelo, 23, defeated incumbent Greg Ellner for the Republican line. Brett Yarris will appear on the Democratic and For the People lines and D’Angelo on the Conservative line. Ellner was elected to the Legislature in 2022.

Republican

Jake D’Angelo 374 (63%)

Greg Ellner 217 (37%)

In District 6, which includes Southeast, Tommy Regan won the Republican line over Tom Brann and Brann won the Conservative line over John O’Connor. Thomas Sprague will appear on the Democratic and Serving Southeast lines. The winner in the general election will succeed Paul Jonke, who did not seek a fourth, 3-year term.

Republican

Tommy Regan 313 (66%)

Tom Brann 158 (33%)

Conservative

Tom Brann 50 (89%)

John O’Connor 6 (11%)

In District 9, which includes the Town of Carmel and Mahopac, there was no primary. Lenny Harrington will appear on the Democratic, Working Families and A Better Putnam lines, while incumbent Erin Crowley will have the Republican and Conservative lines.