SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — With all election districts reporting, incumbent Sheriff Mike Schiff has fended off a general-election challenge from write-in candidate Tim Dymond in Tuesday's general election. In Highland, incumbent Supervisor John Pizzolato has taken victory over challenger Mel Carney, and the slate of candidates on Pizzolato's Lifting Neighbors ticket won out across the board. 

All results are unofficial at this time, and are accurate as of 3 pm on Wednesday, November 5. 

Schiff took 65.81% of the vote with 13,956 votes cast for Sullivan County Sheriff. 34.19% of the vote went to write-in candidates. 

Dymond waged a spirited write-in campaign leading up to the general election, after falling short in the Republican primaries with 39% of the vote. Members of his campaign team were present at multiple polling sites throughout the county on election day, offering information and encouragement to voters to vote for Dymond.  Click here for more. 

In a post-election statement on Facebook, Dymond said, "Unfortunately, we came up short tonight in the general election for Sheriff. I respect the voters’ choice and I truly appreciate the nearly 5000 voters who decided to write my name in on their ballot. I wish the best to the brave men and women of the Sheriff’s Office.

"Thank you to the loyal team of supporters and volunteers who rallied together as ‘Team Dymond’ and made this campaign a reality over the last ten months. Some fights are worth fighting. Our county is desperate for change. Win or lose, it’s been a great learning experience and our county will improve because of this," Dymond said.

In Highland, incumbent John Pizzolato won 53.98% of the vote for Town Supervisor with 880 votes cast, beating out Mary Ellen 'Mel' Carney, who took 46.02% of the vote.  Highland saw a turnout of approximately 49%. 

Pizzolato ran on the Democratic line as well as the Lifting Neighbors line. Other Lifting Neighbors candidates won their races in Highland as well, with Sonia Kidney (D) beating Sue Hoffman (R) for Town Clerk with 55.88% of the vote; and Chris Dickey (D) (32.69%) and Frank Monteleone (R) (32.69%) winning out over Joseph Krist (D) (16.35%) and Gabor Dezso (R) (17.74%) for Town Council. 

Also in Highland, 57.73% of voters voted "Yes" on a proposition to re-establish the town constables, with 493 votes cast for 'Yes'. 

In a post-election statement on Facebook, Pizzolato said, "Thank you to everyone in the Town Of Highland for engaging and enduring this campaign season. All of the candidates put in the work and commitment and for that they should feel accomplished.

Now more than ever, I am listening. My door is open. For those of you who did not support our candidacies, let’s move on from the division of politics and make this a teaching moment for all of us—how can we best represent your interests moving forward? I want everyone to be a stakeholder in this beautiful town. Not with anger and judgement and chaos and accusations, but with ideas, concepts and alternatives that we may not have considered."

Carney told the River Reporter, "I was disappointed with the outcome of the election. The Supervisor sold his story well, but when 50% of the Town’s voting residents are unhappy with what you're doing, that's quite a statement."

"The newly elected Board and Supervisor Pizzolato will bear the full burden of their decisions over this next year. There's no one else to blame. We'll wait, patiently, for the results," Carney said. 

In Bethel, Republican candidates William Crumley and Adam Gold took election with 27.01% and 26.69% of the vote respectively. Other candidates comprised Paula Moss, who took 22.97%; Cliff Manning, who took 15.13%; John Maniec, who took 5.15%; and Nicole Newick, who took 2.89%. 

In Cochecton, Sean Nearing and Paul Salzberg won election to Town Council with 36.56% and 32.34% of the vote respectively, beating out John Nober with 30.47% of the vote. 

In Delaware, Ian Blumenthal and Alfred Steppich took 29.40% of the vote and 27.70% of the vote respectively, beating out Jonathan Duffy and Steven Tollen for Town Council. 

Fallsburg saw a spirited write-in campaign leading up to the election, with Brett Budde campaigning for Town Supervisor and Josh Druckman and Dara Manzi campaigning for Town Council. 

Nathan Steingart won the Town Supervisor position in Fallsburg, taking 70.29% of the vote with 29.71% of the votes going to write-in candidates. With two Town Council seats available, Miranda Behan took 28.70% of the vote, 25.32% of the vote went to write-in candidates, 25.77% of the vote went to Michael Bensimon and 20.21% of the vote went to Amy R. Barkley-Carey. 

The Receiver of Taxes position in Fallsburg got 173 write-in votes, with no candidate listed on the ballot. The exact composition of the write-in votes was not available as of time of writing. 

Carl Lomnitz and Celia Avadyaeu won Village Trustee seats in the Town of Fallsburg, with 32.04% of the vote and 31.27% of the vote respectively. Other candidates comprised Louis Saperstein (8.53%), Leni Binder (8.27%), Josef Rosenfeld (4.39%) and Martin Rosenberger (6.46%). 9.04% of votes went to write-in candidates. 

In Forestburg, Dan Hogue got 52.97% of the vote for Town Supervisor, beating out William Sipos. Susan Parks-Landis and Robert Sipos won Town Council seats, with 32.83% of the vote and 35.53% of the vote respectively, beating out Karen Ellsweig. Joseph Ruggeri won Superintendent of Highways with 61.94% of the vote, beating out Todd Petrowsky. 

In Liberty, Troy Johnstone and Brian Shortall took Town Justice seats with 45.34% and 41.96% of the vote respectively. Jerome Dorfman took 12.48% of the vote. 

In Mamakating, Matthew Mordas took 58.22 percent of the vote for Town Council, Ward 3, beating out Dino Orfanos. James Post took 53.17% of the vote for Town Council, Ward 5, beating out Leslie Ocasio. 

In Rockland, Francis Hank Wolcott and Peter DeVantier took 30.31% and 28.05% of the votes respectively for Town Council, beating out Carol Edwards (27.76%) and Robert Hager (13.71%). Roger Decker beat out Douglas Meyer for Superintendent of Highways with 66.47% of the vote. William Roser Jr. took 51.29% of the vote for Town Justice, beating out Alexandra Vagnone (41.65%) and Elwin Wood (7.06%). 

In Thompson, William Rieber Jr. retained the Town Supervisor seat with 51.16% of the vote, beating out Scott Mace. John Pavese and Melinda Meddaugh took Town Council seats with 36.75% and 33.88% of the vote respectively, beating out Shawn Wiles. Hayden Carnell beat out Charles Brasington for Superintendent of Highways with 72.40% of the vote. 

This roundup includes select, competitive races. For full reporting of Sullivan County races, visit https://app.enhancedvoting.com/results/public/sullivan-county-ny/elections/GE25.  Voting percentages were updated as of 3 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, November 5.