All Over Albany

Election results digest, Democrats have tentative majority in state Senate, burned body found in street, express train plan stopped

Here's a rundown of noteworthy election results:

+ Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand won re-election over Republican Sandy Treadwell in the 20th Congressional District. In one of the nation's most expensive House races, Gillibrand was outspent by Treadwell -- she credited her campaign's outreach efforts for overcoming the difference. Treadwell said he felt good about the campaign he ran. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

+ Democrat Paul Tonko easily topped Republican Republican Jim Buhrmaster in the 21st Congressional District. The seat has been held by Democrats for the past 50 years, the last 20 of which by Mike McNulty. Tonko says his focus in Congress will be on health care, energy and withdrawing troops from Iraq. Buhrmaster said he's disappointed that the district will be getting a "career politician" representing it in Washington. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

+ Republican Roy McDonald beat Democrat Mike Russo in the race to replace Joe Bruno in the state Senate. McDonald spent more than three times as much as Russo. [TU]

+ Republican Tony Jordan beat Democrat Ian McGaughey in the 112th Assembly race -- the seat McDonald had been in. [Daily Gazette]

+ Republican George Amedore topped Democrat Mark Blanchfield for the 105th Assembly district (Tonko's old seat -- Amedore first won it in a special election in July 2007). Amedore attributed his win in part to what he described as a positive campaign "based on the issues and my record." Blanchfield, a Schenectady city councilman, called the campaign a learning experience. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

+ Albany County DA David Soares easily won relection over Republican/Integrity candidate Roger Cusick. Soares racked up almost three times as many votes as Cusick. [TU]

+ The race for Saratoga Springs City Court judge isn't over. Democrat Jeffrey Wait led Republican Matt Dorsey by about 108 votes, but more than a 1000 absentee ballots still needed to be counted. [Daily Gazette]

+ Democrat Patrick McGrath topped Republican incumbent Anthony Carpinello for the state Supreme Court. The position has a 14 year term. Carpinello said he was "a victim of the Obama landslide." [Troy Record]

+ The Troy charter proposal pushed by Mayor Harry Tutunjian failed to pass by a wide margin. A Tutunjian spokesman attributed the failure to rival Democrats "spreading complete lies" about the proposal. [Troy Record]

Democrats will have a majority in the state Senate after two incumbent Republicans lost. Democratic control of the chamber isn't necessaril a sure thing, though -- a group of downstate Democratic Senators apparently are considering supporting current majority leader Dean Skelos. [NYT]

Police say a burned body was found in the middle of a street in Bethlehem. They won't say whether it was foul play, but they did describe the situation as a "very unusual set of circumstances." Police say the body was a man from Menands. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

A group of UAlbany students say they were initially turned away from the polls after being told they weren't registered to vote. Election law says voters in that situation should be given an affidavit ballot. The students did end up getting to vote after a judge gave the OK. [TU]

The Troy Public Library isn't sure where it stands after voters approved its special tax district -- but voted against its budget. The district can't be established without a budget. [Troy Record]

The proposed express train from Rensselaer to New York City has fallen victim to state budget cuts. [TU]

One group sad to see the end of election season: local TV stations and their ad reps. [TU]

The parent company of the Saratogian and the Troy Record lost more than $8 million last quarter. It's currently carrying a bunch of debt and lenders have given it until January to re-organize. [Biz Review]