It's finally over. Five months later, results from Harrison supervisor's race will stand

Five months after Harrison Supervisor Richard Dionisio apparently lost his race for re-election — and then was subsequently declared the winner by a Westchester Supreme Court judge — the results of this unusual election will stand. The New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, declined Thursday to hear a challenge to Dionisio's occupancy of the supervisor's office, allowing him to remain supervisor until his two-year term is complete.

Jerry Goldfeder, one of the attorneys representing the first-place finisher, former Supervisor Ron Belmont, said in a statement that "it’s unfortunate that the Court declined to review a decision that installed a candidate to office who wasn’t elected."

Previously: Harrison's Belmont, disqualified as supervisor, takes eligibility case to Court of Appeals

The long-running saga among Dionisio, Belmont and Democratic candidate Mark Jaffe took months to play out inside courtrooms in Westchester and Brooklyn. Just weeks after Belmont won the race, Justice Lewis Lubell declared him ineligible to take office, citing a measure appearing on the same general election ballot that enshrined term limits for the position of supervisor. Belmont had served as supervisor from 2012 to 2021.

Dionisio, the Republican incumbent seeking re-election, was handed the office as the race's second-place finisher. Belmont, also a Republican, had run a write-in campaign after deciding to enter the race last-minute.

How we got here: Harrison supervisor race will come down to very last vote

A terse decision from the Appellate Division, Second Department, later upheld Lubell's ruling. Though the abbreviated nature of the Second Department's reasoning gave hope to Belmont and Jaffe that the Court of Appeals might decide to intervene.

On Thursday, those hopes were dashed. Dionisio had already been sworn into office on January 1 and has been serving as supervisor since then, with the distant threat of legal proceedings upending his tenure in office, at least until Thursday's decision.

Asher Stockler is a reporter for The Journal News and the USA Today Network New York. You can send him an email at astockler@lohud.com. Reach him securely: asher.stockler@protonmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Harrison NY supervisor race finally decided, five months after vote