Cornwall-on-Hudson Write-In Candidate Gagliano Wins Trustee Seat Despite Ballot Removal

Tiffany Gagliano collected 566 write-in votes on March 18 to claim a Cornwall-on-Hudson village trustee seat, pulling off a result that few write-in candidates ever manage after a judge removed her from the ballot earlier in March for having insufficient signatures on her independent nominating petition.

Gagliano finished second among four candidates in the unofficial results reported at about 11 p.m. by Village Clerk Meagan Gschwind. Lori Beth Paliotta led the field with 632 votes to secure the other open seat. Incumbent Brian Mitchell fell short with 508 votes, and Lisa Silverstone received 481. Five additional write-in votes were scattered among Mike Trainor, Lynn Pebbles, Ben Toper, Shawn Herndon, and Sean Buckley, each receiving one vote. All totals remain unofficial pending certification.

The road to election night was unusually turbulent. After the judge's ruling, Gagliano filed a lawsuit in Orange County Supreme Court naming the Orange County Board of Elections, Village Clerk and Treasurer Meagan Gschwind, and Victoria Peebles, the person who had objected to her nominating petitions, as defendants. Her suit asked the court to declare the petitions valid and restore her to the ballot. The court did not do so, leaving Gagliano to campaign entirely on write-in votes.

Gagliano is well-connected in Cornwall; her husband, James, is the village's former mayor, and she had been appointed to fill a one-year unexpired trustee term left by James Kane when Kane opted to run for mayor. Whether her husband James and James Kane are the same person was not made clear in available sources and remains to be confirmed.

"The effort to keep me off the ballot was driven by a small group of party insiders, many who do not even live in the Village," Gagliano said. "These same operatives attempted to move our Village election to November, absent conversation with the Village Board and community involvement. Because our community was paying attention and refused to be divided, voters rejected that initiative with a resounding no."

That referendum, which would have moved future village elections from March to November to consolidate them with state and federal races, was defeated 689 to 444. Gagliano framed the ballot challenge and the referendum push as connected efforts by the same outside actors.

"This is what Cornwall-on-Hudson looks like when we stand together," Gagliano said. "Republicans, Democrats, and independents walking the same streets, sharing the same schools, caring about the same riverfront. We don't always agree, but we agree that our Village belongs to us, not to outside political forces with their own agenda."

The certified vote totals, the identity of the judge who issued the March ballot ruling, and the current status of Gagliano's Orange County Supreme Court lawsuit have not yet been confirmed through official records.