Preliminary reports (unofficial and not confirmed) are coming in that the Haddad-Hallenbeck election is a virtual dead heat, with Hallenbeck ahead by 2, 15 or 27 votes, depending on whom you talk with, and some 175-225 absentees likely to be counted in the next 10 days.
Simple math: If Haddad were down 27, and 200 people cast votes for Mayor via absentee, Haddad would need to win those remaining ballots 114-86 to prevail by one vote. (Look for a fierce battle, with many challenges and other legal wrangling, over those ballots.)
This race looks like a toss-up at this point.
According to Democratic sources, Haddad won the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Wards, while Hallenbeck won the 4th and 5th (with Hallenbeck’s lead resulting almost entirely from a vast margin in the “Boulevards” of the 5th, toward Greenport).
