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November 3, 2009

Essex County DA race tight

By KIM SMITH DEDAM The Press Republican Wed Nov 04, 2009, 01:56 AM EST

ELIZABETHTOWN — GOP challenger Kristy L. Sprague won a tight Essex County district attorney race, skirting past incumbent Julie Garcia with 75 votes.

Unofficial results from the polls late Tuesday indicated heavy turnout in all towns and 6,053 votes counted for Sprague to 5,978 for Garcia.

Essex County Manager Daniel Palmer said 1,167 absentee ballots were mailed out, and 787 have been returned, the balance still due in the mail.

Standing in the Old County Courthouse, which was filled to capacity with voters and poll watchers, Sprague claimed victory at the final tally.

"We won," she said. "I'm very happy. I'm very happy with all the support we received.

"It's coming down to absentee votes, but we are very pleased with the margins in some of the towns. It is clear, with the (District 23) congressional race, the Democrats really got the vote out."

Garcia's campaign celebrated at a restaurant a short distance away.

"This is awesome," Garcia said, with a loud, excited crowd behind her. "We've been on the edge of our seats all night. To come this close is an incredible feeling. More important is the people of Essex County coming out."

Garcia did not concede a loss.

"We're down by 75 votes, and there are still over 900 votes to be counted. We're on Cloud Nine over here right now."

Garcia won big with voters in Moriah, earning 939 votes to 674 for Sprague. But North Elba voters supported the GOP challenge with 876 votes for Sprague to 753 for Garcia.

The Essex County absentee ballots will be counted for a final, official tally in 10 days, extending the official ending of what has been a hotly contested race for months.

Garcia won the district attorney's seat four years ago by a comfortable margin in what began as a three-way race; she had the backing of the county GOP at the time.

Sprague took the official Republican endorsement last March, dividing what has long been a political juggernaut.

Garcia ran on the Democratic line in this race and as an independent.

The Republican Primary in September was also close, ending with Sprague beating Garcia by 286 votes, 2,461 to 2,175.

The State Board of Elections counts 12,540 registered Republicans in Essex County as of Nov. 1 this year and 6,531 Democrats out of a total 27,073 registered voters.

Candidates met in two debates in the past two months, both drawing very large crowds.

Garcia, a resident of Westport, left private practice to serve as district attorney four years ago.

Sprague has spent 11 years as an assistant district attorney in Clinton County. She moved to Willsboro in September, ahead of the Republican Primary.

E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at: kdedam@pressrepublican.com