After absentee totals counted, balance of power appears to be shifting in Monroe County Legislature

PENFIELD, N.Y. (WHEC) — As final tallies of the ballots were released, Democrats are positioned to take over the Monroe County Legislature for the first time in three decades.

It is a slim 15-14 Democratic majority, but County Executive Adam Bello (D) said he is eager to hit the ground running.

“I’m just delighted by the outcome of these legislative races. We have worked very hard to work together. We have a big agenda that we need to fulfill coming up in the next year,” Bello said. “I’m really just looking forward to working with the new legislature from all parties. To me, it’s not about political parties — it’s about working with legislators who want to roll up their sleeve, partner together and get the work done.”

Although the Monroe County Republicans did secure some wins, candidates eventually lost in three closely watched races after the absentee ballots were counted.

“Did we do well? Not as well as we wanted, we fell a little short. But, I think we did fantastic,” said Monroe County Republican Committee Chairman Bernard Iacovangelo. “Could we have loved to maintain a majority? Absolutely, that’s always the goal. But, I couldn’t be prouder of a group of people than the ones that I was able to lead through this campaign season.”

The county executive said he has big plans for the new year.

“I’ve introduced a budget last week that makes significant investments in public health and safety, makes a significant investment in economic development workforce development to get this economy back on track and infrastructure investments as well, so I want to work with this legislature to enact this budget,” Bello said.

As the pendulum has swung to the Democrats, Iacovangelo said he is still hopeful about a working legislature.

“In talking about balance of power, if we do things the way it should be in the legislature, we’re supposed to be watching every referral, every spending of every dime with our constituents’ best interest at end. We, as Republicans, have always done that,” Iacovangelo said. “The number one in my book is that we’re a republic, and we have to represent our constituents. I don’t care what anybody says… at the end of the day, It’s not about Democrat or Republican or anything else it’s about our constituents, about our community, our city or towns our villages.”

One of the biggest changes for county Republicans is the overturn of the legislature president, Joe Carbone of Irondequoit, who lost to Dave Long. The Town of Irondequoit does have a new Republican supervisor, Rory Fitzpatrick.

The absentee ballot count still has to be certified before the results are official.