Otsego County’s Republican primary voters nominated Michael Stalter for county sheriff in the Tuesday, June 23 primary election.
According to the county Board of Elections’ unofficial results, Stalter won with 1,555 votes, or 53.16% of the vote. Incumbent Sheriff Richard Devlin Jr. received 1,370 votes, or 46.84%.
Stalter, a former sergeant in the sheriff’s office, said Wednesday he was honored to win. He said he and his campaign brought a positive message to residents, and “the response that we got is now obvious, that people have come forward and said that they want to change.”
Both candidates are still set to appear on the ballot in the November general election, in which all voters may participate. Devlin secured the Conservative Party line previously, though as of press time he had not made an announcement on whether he will continue campaigning. Stalter created the Otsego United independent ballot line prior to the primary.
In a Facebook post, Devlin thanked his supporters.
“Regardless of tonight’s outcome, I remain committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of the people of this county as I’ve always done throughout my tenure as Sheriff,” he said.
Devlin did not return requests for comment Wednesday.
Stalter’s platform included opposition to building a new county jail, reducing overtime for employees, ending the sheriff’s office’s immigration warrant service agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other items. Throughout the campaign, Stalter criticized the oversight and accountability practices of his former boss, Devlin.
Issues of transparency and accountability grew more prominent in the race when two high-ranking sheriff’s office employees, jail administrator Lt. Thomas Fellrath and Sgt. Kristopher Solovitch, were arrested in late May and early June, respectively.
Stalter issued a statement at the time saying that the Fellrath arrest was “maybe not so surprising to office insiders.”
On Wednesday, he said he had had suspicions prior to the arrests and that he remained in contact with sheriff’s office current and former employees.
“People talk, and when everybody is saying the same thing, then the chances are pretty good that there’s a problem,” he said.
Stalter’s insurgent candidacy challenged a sheriff who was first elected in 2006 and the area’s Republican leadership, who largely lined up behind Devlin. Stalter said his campaign began in January with 12 volunteers, a figure which grew “exponentially” as he spoke with constituents “anywhere where I see a group of people standing around” across the county.
Devlin began his re-election campaign in January with endorsements from county Board of Representatives and Otsego County Republican Committee Chairperson Ed Frazier Jr., county Treasurer Allen Ruffles, county Clerk Jennifer Basile and former county District Attorney John Muehl, along with state Sen. Peter Oberacker and Assembly members Chris Tague, Joe Angelino and Brian Miller.
Frazier did not return request for comment for this story, including on whether the Republican committee will continue to support Devlin through the general election.
In the lead up to the primary, state level Republicans got involved. The New York Republican State Committee sent a campaign mailer which criticized Stalter as “not a true Republican” and stated that “Democrats are looking to steal our sheriff’s office.”
“Don’t let the Democrats steal this election,” the mailer stated.
It cited Stalter’s opposition to the ICE agreement and the support he has received from some local Democrats.
Stalter said Wednesday that the attacks were name-calling, and that he was proud to have an independent line.
“I felt that the most important thing that I could do is not exclude somebody because of a political affiliation, and I am just ecstatic that my fellow Republicans came out and supported me,” he said.
Devlin last faced an opponent on the ballot in 2018. Robert Fernandez, a former state trooper, challenged Devlin in the Republican primary. Devlin won with 56.8% of the vote, 1,870 votes.
Fernandez secured the Democratic Party line to face Devlin in the general election. Devlin eked out 51.79% of the vote with 11,154 votes.