19th U.S. Congressional District: Millbrook’s Van De Water declared primary winner

NEW YORK STATE — Millbrook resident, lawyer and former Village Trustee and Town Board member Kyle Van De Water has been declared the victor of the Republican primary for the 19th U.S. Congressional District against GOP challenger Ola Hawatmeh, a Poughkeepsie fashion designer, in what was an extremely close race. 

Although primary elections took place on Tuesday, June 23, due to the coronavirus pandemic results took longer than usual to be counted. New York voters had the option of voting via absentee ballots rather than voting in person to avoid crowds and potentially spreading the virus. In Dutchess County, voters also had the choice of voting at one of two early voting sites in the county between June 13 and June 21, again delaying returns. 

By law, absentee ballots were not allowed to be counted until June 30, giving the state Board of Elections (BOE) enough time to ensure absentee voters did not cast their ballots elsewhere in New York and also that their ballots were not duplicated.

As of Tuesday, June 23, according to the Dutchess County BOE’s unofficial results, Van De Water had earned 814 votes in Dutchess County while his opponent, Hawatmeh, had earned 776 votes. The 19th Congressional District includes all or parts of 10 counties in addition to Dutchess, including the Hudson Valley and the Catskills, and the results from those counties (excluding absentee ballots) originally had Hawatmeh ahead, 5,502 (52.2%) to Van De Water’s 5,027 (47.79%) — a difference of 475 votes. 

Dutchess County BOE Republican Commissioner of Elections Erik J. Haight said immediately after the primaries that there were roughly 8,000 absentees, district wide, across all 11 counties, that the BOE had to count. The board began canvassing absentees on around July 1, according to the commissioner.

According to the AP, the final tally had Van De Water with 12,159 votes while Ola Hawatmeh earned 8,992 votes.

Forty year old Van De Water was born in Rhinebeck and raised in Poughkeepsie; he graduated from Spackenkill High School in 1998. He served with the Army in Afghanistan, received the Bronze Star in 2011 and continues to serve in the U.S. Army Reserves legal corps.

An attorney with the firm Corbally, Gartland and Rappleyea, LLP, Van De Water’s platform includes increasing funding for opioid treatment, protecting the Second Amendment and securing the southern border.

In November he’ll face incumbent U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, who is finishing his first term as congressman for the 19th District after defeating former Republican U.S. Rep. John Faso in 2018. Delgado, a Rhinebeck resident, won with the Blue Wave of Democrats who helped take the House that year with a more progressive agenda.

In addition to being on the Democratic ticket, Delgado ran in the June 23 primary unopposed on both the Working Families Party ticket and on the SAM (Serve America Movement) ticket. 

Also running for the 19th District in November will be Steven Greenfield, who ran unopposed in the primary with the Green Party, and Victoria Alexander, who ran unopposed in the primary for the 19th District with the Libertarian Party.

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