Tom Abinanti was first elected to public office in Nov. 1989. When he completes this current term in the state assembly, Abinanti will have held elective office representing parts or all of Greenburgh for 33 consecutive years. There have been two state senate losses (1996 and 2000) mixed in, but those campaigns came on off years and did not interrupt his officeholding streak. Tonight, Greenburgh rejected Abinanti's latest re-election bid, and may have brought down the curtain on the seventy-five year old politician's decades-long career.
Enough about Abinanti, who will surely enjoy accolades celebrating his years of public service, in the coming months. Praise tonight belongs entirely to Mary Jane Shimsky whose campaign took down the six-term incumbent in the Democratic Party primary for New York's 92nd Assembly District by a margin that exceeds the predictions of local self-appointed experts (coughs).
With about 114 of 127 election precincts reporting, the unofficial Democratic Party results have Shimsky with about 5000 (55%) votes and Abinanti about 4100 (45%). This margin will narrow slightly as absentees ballots - which favor Abinanti - continue to be counted but not enough absentees are left to move Abinanti forward significantly.
These preliminary numbers show that Shimsky took down Abinanti by racking up an imposing 60% margin in Greenburgh. Abinanti held Mount Pleasant with at 55%, but he really needed huge turnout and a more decisive margin in his current hometown which has only 1/3 the Democratic voters as does Greenburgh. Turnout was minuscule in the newly added Yonkers precincts and which proved not to be a factor in the outcome.
We'll deep dive into the election data when it becomes available.
UPDATE:
Final numbers from the Westchester BOE:
Shimsky 5,533 (55%)
Abinanti 4,558 (45%)
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