Dutchess Board of Elections certifies 929-vote win
Dan Aymar-Blair, a member of the Beacon City Council, was declared the winner on Tuesday (Dec. 3) of a campaign to become the next Dutchess County comptroller. He defeated Gregg Pulver, the interim comptroller, by 929 votes of more than 154,000 cast, according to certified results posted by the Dutchess County Board of Elections.
The comptroller is the county’s chief accounting officer and is responsible for auditing its departments and outside agencies funded by the county.
Aymar-Blair, a Democrat, resigned from his seat on the City Council on Monday (Dec. 2), effective Dec. 31. He will serve the remaining year of the four-year term of Robin Lois, a Democrat who resigned a year ago to take a job with the state comptroller’s office. The comptroller seat will be on the ballot again in November 2025, and Aymar-Blair said he plans to run for a full term.
Beacon Mayor Lee Kyriacou will appoint a successor to serve the final year of Aymar-Blair’s two-year term representing Ward 4.
Pulver, a Republican from Pine Plains, was named comptroller in December 2023 by then-County Executive William F.X. O’Neil to succeed Lois. He served 10 years in the county Legislature, the last six as its chair, before losing his re-election bid two weeks before the appointment. On Nov. 20, he posted a message on Facebook conceding what he called “an absurdly close race.”
Aymar-Blair is serving his third term representing Ward 4 on the City Council. He began his career with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley before moving into the public sector. He has worked for the New York City Department of Education for 15 years and oversees business operations for its special education program. He said he would resign from that position.
Although Pulver led by 475 votes on Election Night, the Dutchess County Democratic Committee expressed confidence that Aymar-Blair would be the winner once outstanding mail-in and affidavit ballots were counted.
✓ Dan Aymar-Blair (D, WF) 72,752 (47.2%)
Gregg Pulver (R, C) 71,823 (46.6%)Beacon
✓ Dan Aymar-Blair (D, WF) 5,373 (76%)
Gregg Pulver (R, C) 1,683 (23.8%)
More than 9,300 voters, or about 6 percent, did not select a candidate. Aymar-Blair’s margin of victory slightly exceeded the 0.5 percent difference that would have mandated a recount under state law. The results were certified by Erik Haight, the Republican election commissioner, and Diane Nash, the deputy Democratic commissioner. Lisa Jessup, chair of the Beacon Democratic Committee, has been nominated to be the next Democratic commissioner but does not begin her term until Jan. 1, pending approval by the Legislature.
