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Lansing has its 2008 government after a relatively short campaign season.  While the official results won't be in until after next Tuesday, the current counts show that Lansing has made its choice.  Scott Pinney will be the new Town Supervisor, and Town Board members Connie Wilcox and Marty Christopher won their seats back handily.  Highway Superintendent Jack French, Town Clerk Bonny Boles, and Town Justice John Howell ran unopposed, and were re-elected for another term.

Meet the Candidates night featured (Left to right) Marty Christopher, Scott Pinney, Connie Wilcox, Hugh Bahar, Steve Farkas, Lansing Democrat Committee Chairman Hurf Sheldon, Lansing Republican Committee Chairman Lin Davidson

Last minute campaign events abounded with the best forum being a 'Meet the Candidates' night hosted by the Lansing Republican and Democratic Parties at Lansing Community Center Sunday evening.  Only candidates who were running against others participated, which meant that Steve Farkas and Scott Pinney (running for Town Supervisor) and Connie Wilcox, Marty Christopher, and Hugh Bahar (running for two Town Council seats) were there to square off.

Marty Christopher

Sharon Bowman

After each candidate made an opening statement, Democratic Chairman Hurf Sheldon and Republican Chairman Lin Davidson read questions that members of the audience submitted written questions on index cards.  Some of the questions were quite pointed, and they illustrated the differences between the candidates fairly clearly.  While the five agreed on many points they clearly had different approaches to many of the issues facing the town in the next four years.

Steve Farkas

Irene Tyrrell

On election day the North Lansing Auxiliary staged their annual election day dinner and supper.  The chow line was a lot longer than the line at the voting machine.  But that gave many of the candidates a chance to talk to people, often while serving them food.  Farkas and Christopher were serving coffee and punch, while Wilcox and French helped man the kitchen.  Pinney also made an appearance at the event, which featured a ham and chicken dinner, with pie for dessert, at least 25 of which Wilcox had baked herself.

The polls closed at 9pm, after which the four election inspectors at each of Lansing's seven polling places got the results from the back of the machines and called them into the Tompkins County Board of Elections.


Next Tuesday remaining absentee ballots will be tallied, and the official results will be posted.  As of this time there are not enough ballots pending to affect the town board race, and the odds are against the supervisor race being reversed.

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