Jefferson judge wins 2nd term of 10 years

Jefferson County voters re-elected Jefferson County Judge Kim L. Martusewicz.

Unofficial results released Tuesday night show Mr. Martusewicz, who ran on the Democratic, Independence and Working Families lines, defeated attorney John W. Hallett, who ran on Republican and Conservative lines, 13,006 to 7,504, or 63.4 percent to 36.6 percent.

Mr. Martusewicz will serve his second 10-year term as Jefferson County judge.

"I hope this win signifies the recognition of 10 years of hard work in County Court," Mr. Martusewicz said Tuesday night at First National Beef and Brew, Watertown, where he celebrated his re-election with family, friends and supporters.

"The continued growth of our county has presented challenges because of our limited resources. I plan to take a leadership role to make sure we have the staff and resources to deal with the workload this term," Mr. Martusewicz said.

Mr. Hallett plans to continue with life as usual before the campaign started, he said in a phone call Tuesday night.

"I would like to congratulate Kim Martusewicz, and to thank all of the volunteers that helped with my campaign. I have my private practice of law and I'm also the town judge for the town of LeRay, so I plan to hold that job down too," Mr. Hallett said.

Unofficial election results from another judicial race Tuesday night indicate that judges James W. McCarthy, Oswego, and James C. Tormey III, Syracuse, were elected to the two open seats for the state Supreme Court's Fifth Judicial District. The pair defeated Walter W. Hafner, Jr. A complete districtwide vote count was unavailable as of Tuesday night.

Judge McCarthy received the most votes of the three candidates in Jefferson County, with 17,129 votes, or 49 percent of the vote in Jefferson County. Judge Tormey received 10,212 votes, or 29 percent of the vote in Jefferson County.

The fifth district includes Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego, Herkimer, Oneida and Onondaga counties. The elected judges each will serve 14-year terms.

Judge McCarthy ran on the Republican, Democratic, Independence and Conservative lines. Judge McCarthy has been serving as a County Court judge and an acting Supreme Court judge since 1999.

Judge Tormey ran on the Republican and Independence lines. Judge Tormey has served 14 years as a Supreme Court judge, and has spent the past nine years serving as the district's administrative judge.