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Akshar wins race for Broome County sheriff, succeeding six-term incumbent Harder

Broome Sheriff WEB

Fred Akshar successfully defeated Kathleen Newcomb in the race for Broome County Sheriff Tuesday.

Akshar, a Republican, garnered 73 percent of the vote according to Election Day results from the Broome County Board of Elections.

Speaking to a gathering of Republicans in the City of Binghamton Tuesday night, Akshar said he’s looking forward to bringing change to the department.

“This race was about ensuring that people were safe, ensuring that we didn’t have never-ending lawsuits, a terrible culture, the lowest morale in decades and I think the sky is the limit for us with respect to what we can do for this community,” Akshar said.

Akshar ran a well-financed campaign and received the endorsement of the sheriff department’s largest union.

Newcomb, received the endorsement of current Sheriff David Harder, a six-term incumbent Republican. Speaking to WSKG shortly after midnight, Akshar said Newcomb hadn’t contacted him to concede.

Vaughn Golden has been reporting across New York since 2016. Working as a freelancer while studying journalism and economics at Ithaca College, Vaughn has reported for a number of outlets including the Albany Times Union, New York Post, and NPR among others. Prior to coming to WSKG full-time, Vaughn was a reporter for the Watertown Daily Times. Vaughn now covers government and politics for WSKG.