One vote separates candidates for Penfield Town Board

One vote separates who will become one of two council members in Penfield, but the winner won't be determined for a few more weeks.

Democrat Kevin Berry received 5,028 votes, one digit more than Republican Allyn (AJ) Hetzke Jr. with 5,027 votes - according to unofficial Monroe County Board of Elections results. The second Town Board seat was secured by Democrat Linda Teglash, who received 5,114 votes.

The tallies do not include absentee ballots, so it is possible for either candidate to win the seat, which comes with a four-year term, said Avi Presberg, the election information coordinator for the Monroe County Board of Elections.

Presberg said that more than 9,200 absentee ballots were requested among the county's registered voters and that as of Election Day, more than half of those completed ballots (5,570 ballots) had been returned. The ballots, however, have not yet been tallied and there is no way to know how many include votes that will impact the Penfield race.

Ballots - which must be postmarked by Election Day - can be received until Tuesday (Nov. 14). Military absentee ballots must be received by Nov. 20.

The Board of Elections will count the absentee ballots on Nov. 17 and 27, Presburg said. The election results will then be certified at the end of the month.

Berry and Hetzke are both seeking their first term on Penfield's Town Board.

Berry, who works as the vice-president of programs and services at The Arc Wayne, spent more than two decades leading the Greater Rochester LGBTQ+ Political Caucus. According to Berry's campaign website, he wanted to give Penfield residents options to avoid a one-party government, which has historically reflected Penfield. The town, he said, needs "to envision a better Penfield... We need to be proactive, innovative and responsible."

Hetzke, who owns and operates his own company IlluminFX Lighting Systems, was on Penfield's Planning Board for the past 26 years, and served as chairman for the last nine years. Hetzke said he has volunteered in Penfield since he and his wife first settled in Penfield more than three decades ago and believes everyone has a responsibility to help others, according to his campaign website. "We are a government by the people, for the people," he said.

Another close race to be determined by absentee ballots is for a town council seat in Pittsford - where seven votes separates Republican incumbent Kate Bohne Munzinger, who received 4,190 in-person votes, from Democratic challenger Naveen Havannavar, who received 4,183 votes, according to the Board of Election.

Democrat Cathy Koshykar, also an incumbent, was re-elected to her Town Board position with 4,406 votes. She will be serving her second four-year term.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: One vote separates candidates for Penfield Town Board