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There were no local surprises or upsets in Tuesday’s election, at least in Niagara Falls and Niagara County. With results still to be finalized, the noisiest races impacting Niagara Falls came off as the status quo with endorsed Republican Becky Wydysh easily besting Democrat Nate McMurray and outspoken 4th District Legislature candidate Sean Mapp losing to incumbent Jeffrey Elder.
In the 147th Assembly District, where Sen. Angelo Morinello is retiring, Wydysh rode her campaign by fiat to a 55.8% to 44.1% percent win over McMurray (21,554 votes to 17,040.)
For McMurray being a brash, outspoken and a social media warrior was not enough to overcome Wydysh, who has worked in government her whole career and ran a subdued, paranoid campaign with limited media appearances, a few mailers and no debate. It worked to be under the radar in the heavily gerrymandered Republican District.
The tightest race for Niagara County Legislature, Niagara Falls 5th District, Democrat Johnnie Parks is 34 votes ahead of Russ Petrozzi at 2310-2276.
In the other noisiest race, where Sean Mapp tried to unseat Jeffrey Elder for the 4th District Niagara County Legislature seat, Elder, a Democrat, won 1299-934.
Mapp was outspoken about conditions in the 4th district but seemed mostly focused on things the mayor and city council control. Elder was steady and confident and didn’t get drawn into the fray even as Mapp and Ezra Scott Jr. clashed via social media.
The only county legislature challenger to top 44% in Niagara Falls was Matt Chavez in the 3rd District who lost to incumbent Chris McKimmie 2645-2142, 55.1% to 44.8%.
A complete recap from the Niagara County Board of Elections is here. https://vic.ntsdata.com/enr/Niagara/297/result
