A six-county meeting of the Republican County Chairmen and Town Committees of the 54th Senate District, gathered on Wednesday night in Geneva to determine a Joint Endorsement of their Republican candidate.
Slightly over 300 attendees voted through five ballots to obtain a consensus. Eleven candidates were vying for the endorsement. They were: Pam Helming of Canandaigua, Tim Young of Palmyra, John Ritter of Geneva, Joe Geiger of Walworth, Mike Sigler of Freeville, Brian Manktelow of Lyons, Chris Folk of Waterloo, John Tubrity of Webster, Floyd Rayburn of Hopewell, Patti Cataldi of Webster, and Bobby Massarini of Union Springs.
The 54th District State Senate seat, currently held by Senator Mike Nozzolio of Seneca County, is on the November ballot, due to Nozzolio’s retirement annoucement earlier this year, for health reasons. The 54th Senate District includes all of the Counties of Wayne and Seneca and part of the Counties of Monroe, Cayuga, Tompkins, and Ontario.
Following the first vote, the field was narrowed to the top five. With weighted voting, the first ballot winners were: Pam Helming (8494.74), Brian Manktelow (6602,00), Patti Cataldi (3592.26), Bobby Massarini (3128.16) and Joe Geiger (2280.17)
The second ballot, brought the number down to 4 candidates, with Helming, Manktelow, Cataldi and Geiger still in the running. Three candidates: Helming, Manktelow and Geiger remained after vote #3. The second to last vote had Helming (from Ontario County) and Manktelow (from Wayne County) facing off on the final run. Final voting totals were: 13,574.08 to 11,572.34. It was Canandaigua Supervisor, Pam Helming coming out with the win, as the endorsed Republican candidate for the 54th District.
“I am grateful for all of your support, and I am honored to be the candidate for our party. This phase is now over, but it is just the beginning of the campaign,” said Helming.
Brian Manktelow was also very thankful for his supporters, who stuck it out until the end of the meeting (after midnight). “I appreciated very much those who made the effort to come out tonight and who showed support and listened to my message during this process. I am extremely proud of the commitment to our party during this convention for endorsement. The turnout was amazing, and I am grateful to have been a part of this,”
A number of the 11 candidates have already announced to their supporters that they will be putting their names in for a primary run for the Republican line endorsement in September.
The endorsed Republican candidate will run against Democratic candidate, Rose Town Supervisor, Kenan Baldridge in November for the Senate seat.
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