| The race for the final councilmember post on the Democratic line in November's general election is going down to the wire, with only a handful of votes separating Stan Kaznowski and Charlie Markel.
Erie County Board of Elections Commissioner Dennis Ward has not returned phone calls from the Times seeking comment, but a source told the Times that, with all 54 districts reporting, there is about 10 votes separating the two.
Elections officials may require several days to determine a winner. Officials tallies from voting machines must still be collected, and absentee ballots have yet to be tabulated.
Councilmembers Jeff Swiatek and Rick Zydel have secured the other two positions on the Democrat line for council.
Alice Magierski, the endorsed Democrat, staved off challenger Diane Benczkowski in the race for town clerk.
Tom Mazur also won his bid to represent the Democrats in Erie County's eighth legislative district and will again face Republican challenger Jeff Sell in November's general election.
In other Erie County Democratic races, James Keane won a three-way county executive primary against West Seneca Supervisor Paul Clark and former Buffalo Mayor James Griffin.
In the ninth legislative district, Timothy Wroblewski defeated Cynthia Locklear, reversing the 2005 result when Locklear unseated him.
Unofficial tallies as of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday:
Council, 52 of 54 districts reporting- Swiatek 4,157, 33%; Zydel 3,137, 25%; Kaznowski 2,601, 21%; Markel 2,574, 21%.
Town Clerk, 52 of 54 districts reporting- Magierski 2,865, 55%; Benczkowski 2,325, 45%.
Erie County 8th District, 37 of 39 districts reporting- Mazur 1,414, 43%; John Dudziak 1,061, 32% Deborah Kubiak, 806, 25%.
Erie County 9th District, all districts reporting- Wroblewski 3,516, 66%; Locklear 1,847, 34%.
County Executive 505 of 521 districts reporting- Keane 28,502, 53%; Clark 13,368 25%; Griffin 11,968, 22%.
Full details will be reported in the September 20 edition of the Cheektowaga Times.
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