Politics & Government

Troy, Diviny Win Orangetown Council Republican Primary

The Orangetown Republican Committee chose incumbents Tom Diviny and Denis Troy to run for for re-election to the Orangetown Council this fall back in May, but Andrew Wiley challenged them in Tuesday's primary election. .

"To me, primaries are an irritant because the Republican Committee overwhelmingly supported Tom and I, but the great thing about Democracy is people have other avenues to go after you," Troy said. "The strongest team Orangetown can have is Tom Diviny and I with Walter Wettje (the Republican nominee for Orangetown Supervisor) in the November election."

Those three will be on the Novembrer ballot on the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines. According to the unofficial results on the Rockland County website, Troy and Diviny defeated Wiley by a wide margin Tuesday night, with Troy getting 714 votes (45.05 percent), Diviny receiving 629 (39.68 percent) and Wiley getting 220 votes (13.88). They also won the votes for the Independence and Conservative lines, where they were the only candidates on the ballot. 

Diviny and Troy gathered with other Orangetown Republicans including Wettje and Receiver of Taxes Robert Simon to await the results Tuesday evening at The Saloon in Pearl River 

"The only reason we won these primaries tonight is we have the support of a dedicated group of people, especially my wife, Dennis's wife, our friends and family," Diviny said. "They come out. The support us. They make the phone calls. They do the things people don't realize you need to do to win an election. There was no one voting. We probably got 200, 300 people from 5:30 to 8:30. Everyone was calling, Facebooking and that's how you win an election. You have to have a strong support cast and we do and that's why we're here tonight having a good time."

"Minor candidates like Andrew Wiley can succeed in a primary if there is a low turnout, especially giving out misinformation," Troy said.

Wettje was also confirmed in the primaries for Orangetown Supervisor on the Independence and Conservative lines, where he was the only name on the ballot. He will run against incumbent Democrat Andy Stewart in the fall. Diviny and Troy will run against Democratic challengers Dan Salmon and Annmarie Uhl.

Democrat Chris Smith, who is running against Simon for Receiver of Taxes, campaigned as a write-in candidate for the Independence Party line, but Simon won that primary with 60 votes (77.3 percent) to 20 for all write-ins.


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