Appellate court rules Ruggiero wins Newburgh council race by one vote

The Appellate Division, Second Department, ruled that Paul Ruggiero won the Town of Newburgh Town Council race by a single vote, ending a months-long legal fight over one of the closest local elections in Orange County. The final certified count now stands at 3,224 for Ruggiero and 3,223 for Mary Lou Carolan, a margin so narrow that every disputed ballot carried outsized weight.

The race was decided by the November 4, 2025 general election for two council vacancies, with four candidates on the ballot: Paul I. Ruggiero, Jim Politi, Mary L. McLymore and Mary Lou Carolan. In the aftermath, a recount initially showed Carolan ahead 3,226 to 3,224, but the contest shifted as the case moved through Election Law article 16 proceedings challenging the casting and canvassing of ballots. The appellate court’s May 11, 2026 decision in Matter of Ruggiero v. Orange County Board of Elections addressed ballots 1, 6, 9, 18, 19, 20, 27 and 31, and modified an earlier order from Orange County Supreme Court Justice Sherri L. Eisenpress dated March 3, 2026.

The county later certified updated totals on April 14, 2026, and the Board of Elections ultimately certified Ruggiero as the winner. The ruling gave legal finality to a race that had already spilled into town government. On April 27, 2026, Town Supervisor Gil Piaquadio told Carolan the town would recognize Ruggiero as the duly elected councilmember, a move Carolan’s attorney, Michael Treybich, said he would fight. The town had said it believed it had to seat the person certified by the Board of Elections unless a stay was issued, and the dispute even forced the cancellation of the Town Board’s May 11 meeting.

The fight also drew a visible public response outside Town Hall, where more than 50 people gathered to protest Carolan’s removal and call for her reinstatement. The one-vote result matters beyond the names on the ballot: it clarifies the Town of Newburgh’s political balance, signals how much local control can hinge on a handful of ballots, and shows how election administration and judicial review can determine who gets to govern in a town where another council seat, won decisively by Mary L. McLymore, also carried major historical significance.