Watertown mayoral race is ‘razor thin’ for Crossman, Horbacz

WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWNY) - Absentee ballots will be opened July 1 and Watertown mayoral candidates will be paying attention.

Primary day voting results show Jeff Smith got the most votes, but who the other candidate on the November ballot will be will be determined after the absentees are counted up.

Right now, Allison Crossman is 14 votes ahead of Cody Horbacz with at least 139 absentee ballots to be counted. Another 10 to 15 absentees could arrive in the mail soon.

Elections officials say 14 votes is a close race.

“That’s razor thin,” said Jefferson County Board of Elections Republican Commissioner Jude Seymour. “At 14 votes, you can’t take anything for granted; 14 votes can be wiped out pretty quickly and we’ve seen it happen. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, what we do see is the absentees roughly mirror what we see on Election Day.”

Smith previously served 12 years on city council, Allison Crossman is a political newcomer, and Hobacz will finish his four-year term on council at the end of the year.

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