Molinaro Wins Re-Election As Dutchess County Executive

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — The polls have closed in Dutchess County and the votes are being tallied. One race that was decided was for county executive. Incumbent Marc Molinaro, a Republican from Red Hook, is being challenged by Joseph Ruggiero, a Democrat from Wappingers Falls.

With 100 percent of vote tallied., Molinaro appears to have won another term as Dutchess County executive, according to unofficial results. He received 58.5 percent of the vote, with Ruggiero receiving 41.4 percent. Molinaro got 39,871 votes to Ruggiero's 28,235.

Molinaro, 43, has been county executive since 2012. Previously, he was a state assemblyman, county legislator and mayor of the Village of Tivoli. He is married and has four children.

Molinaro ran unsuccessfully for governor against incumbent Democrat Andrew Cuomo in 2018. Statewide, Molinaro got a little more than 36 percent of the votes, though in Dutchess County, he got almost 53 percent.

Ruggiero, 49, was previously the executive director of the New York State Bridge Authority. He was also appointed assistant state comptroller and was the Town of Wappinger supervisor for three terms and councilman for four terms. Ruggiero is married with one son.

Molinaro said the most pressing issue facing the county was affordability, and he would enact the largest tax cut in 20 years and has cut county taxes for six years in a row

Ruggiero cited taxes as the most pressing issue for the county, saying that, if elected, he would stop raising taxes on the residents and give no-deal tax breaks to large companies.

Besides the top of the ticket race for county executive, voters in Dutchess County also had to decide on the next county clerk and district attorney.

Here are the unofficial results with 98.64 percent of the vote in (*=winner):

Clerk

• Kenya Gadsden, D, W —29,572
• *Bradford Kendall, R, C, I (Incumbent) — 35,749

District Attorney

• Richard Berube, D, W — 32,487 Too close to call
• William V. Grady, R, C, I (Incumbent) — 33,203 Too close to call

Sheriff Adrian H. "Butch" Anderson was running unopposed.

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