Updated 09/13/2012 11:00 PM
David Gantt Defeats Primary Challengers
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David Gantt has served 15 terms in the New York State Assembly, and is well on his way to making it number 16. The Democrat won a three-way primary, and winning it quite handily.
“When I knew that if I can get my message out, about the things that I’ve done, as you know, I don’t typically talk, but I knew if I could get the message out about the things that we’ve done in this community, my constituents would be there,” Gantt said.
Unofficially, Gantt took over just 70 percent of the vote, with challenger Jose Cruz around 20 percent and John Lightfoot around 10 percent.
“We worked this district, and we got people to get out. Ultimately, our goal was to provide people an alternative, and that’s exactly what we did,” Cruz said.
“We continue to bring democracy to the community, and that is my purpose; as my leader, that’s one of my jobs sometimes, is to bring opportunity to the people so they have a choice,” Lightfoot said.
All three of the candidates expressed disappointment at the low voter turnout, which was somewhere in the mid-teens percentage-wise.
It was the first time in more than 20 years that Gantt faced a challenge from within his party.