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Council seat race goes down to wire
By John J. Hopkins Times
Two Democratic candidates for town council are waiting on pins and needles for the final results of Tuesday's primary, in which Stan Kaznowski leads Charlie Markel by 10 votes in unofficial results with absentee ballots yet to be tabulated.
A winner likely won't be declared for nearly two weeks.
Results posted on the Erie County Board of Elections Web site indicated Wednesday morning that Kaznowski had 2,601 votes to Markel's 2,574, with 52 of 54 districts reporting.
Councilmember Jeff Swiatek garnered the most votes in the four-way race for three positions. Swiatek received 4,157, or 33 percent, and Councilmember Rick Zydel placed second with 3,137 votes, representing 25 percent of the vote. Kaznowski and Markel are in a statistical dead heat, each with 21 percent.
Despite the narrow margin, Markel told the Times that he's not going to let the result concern him.
"Whatever happens, happens," Markel said. "If I lose I'll still be active in the community."
A "nerve-wracked" Kaznowski took a similar approach, noting that he has a private sector job regardless of the outcome and will remain civically involved either as a councilmember or with the Town Park Homeowners Association.
"I'll be in a good position," Kaznowski said, "and I'm looking forward to working with Mary (Holtz) from an individual standpoint."
Holtz will become town supervisor in January.
Erie County Board of Elections Commissioner Dan Ward said he was unsure why two districts didn't report their results on Tuesday, but added the numbers were finally reported.
"I'm told that the margin is 10 votes," Ward told the Times on Wednesday. "That doesn't include 309 absentee ballots."
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