HIGHLAND, NY — With only some absentee and provisional ballots yet to be tallied, it is highly likely that John Pizzolato will be the next Highland town supervisor.

The incumbent supervisor, Jeff Haas, has 382 votes in unofficial results, while Pizzolato has 471.

For a generation, the Town of Highland has not experienced much turnover in the supervisor’s office. Before Haas, Andy Boyar served as supervisor from 1983 to 2015 with, as his Facebook page puts it, “a few years off for good behavior.”

Haas was first elected to the town board in 2013. Two years later, when Boyar was not on the ballot, Haas was elected supervisor.

In 2017 and 2019 Haas ran unopposed on the Democratic, Republican, Conservative and Independence lines, garnering 519 and 475 votes, respectively.

Haas was first challenged in 2021 by Pizzolato, but kept his supervisor seat by 20 votes (412-392).

This brings us to election day 2023. Haas lost to Pizzolato by 89 votes in unofficial results, with absentee and provisional ballots not yet counted.

Turnout goes up

The past 10 years have seen other changes in Highland, including increasing voter turnout. During this period, Haas’ numbers have gone down. 

When Haas was first challenged in 2015, he won easily, with turnout that year totaling 720. When he was unchallenged, the total votes cast for supervisor were in the 400s, almost half that number. 

When first challenged by Pizzolato in 2021, turnout in the supervisor’s race went up to 804. This year so far it’s 853. 

The turnout for the supervisors’ race when there were challengers went up 133 votes since 2015, a 13 percent increase in eight years. As a general rule, turnout goes up when people are looking for change.

According to online voting records, it’s the highest turnout ever for a council race in Highland.

Absentees and early voting

The votes announced after the polls closed and read at the polling site didn’t include absentee ballots or early voting, and the tallies were much closer: 348 for Pizzolato, 338 for Haas. This tells us that Pizzolato secured more absentee and/or early votes than Haas.

Two voters at the polls told the River Reporter they used to have a second home in Highland but more recently moved here full-time and changed their voting addresses so they could vote for Pizzolato. They realized they could make a difference because in the last election he lost by so few votes.

New council members

The supervisor isn’t the only change the 2023 election brought to Highland. 

The town council will have two new members, Thomas R. Migliorinio (R) and Laura K. Burrell (D). The open position of highway superintendent was won by Joe Barnes (D). In a three-way race, Barnes beat out Republican candidate James Akt and conservative Orson J. Davis Jr. 

Current members of the town board are Kaitlin Haas, Frederick Bosch and Chris Tambini.