Republican Mark Margeson defeated incumbent Chris Moss in the race for the Chemung County Executive seat on Tuesday.
Voters overwhelmingly chose Margeson to lead the county for the next four years.
In the closely watched race, Margeson took the top spot with 58.55 percent of the votes to Moss’ 40.90 percent, according to unofficial results.
During the Republican watch party in Elmira on election night, Margeson told WSKG his campaign was about family, community and building business in the community.
“We're talking about two different personalities, and again, my goal is to find a way to build a community that people want to stay in, that people want to come to, and it's going to prosper,” he said. “It's going to be a challenge. [It's] there's a lot of things that are in place right now that we need to take a look at. But that's our goal: [is] to build a team of people that will move this community forward.“
Margeson won the Republican Party nomination during the June primaries.
After losing the primary election, Moss decided to stay in the race by running on the Conservative Party line in the General Election.
This will be Margeson’s first term in the county executive position. He currently serves as Chemung County Legislator for District 5, chairs both the legislature and the Chemung County Industrial Development Agency (CCIDA), and owns a private insurance agency.
Margeson was elected to the legislature in 2018.
In a social media post on Nov. 4, Moss said “Serving Chemung County as your County Executive has been an extraordinary honor.”
He was first elected to the county executive position in 2018 and served for two terms. He was the Chemung County Sheriff for thirteen years prior to his move to run for the top seat in the county government.
Moss’ term ends at the end of the year.
Election results are unofficial until certified.