Ortt, Hawley cruise to re-election to State Legislature
Photos by Tom Rivers: State Sen. Rob Ortt, left, and Assemblyman Steve Hawley speak during campaign events in Orleans County on Aug. 16.
Orleans County two representatives in the State Legislature were overwhelmingly re-elected on Tuesday.
Rob Ortt won another two-year term in the State Senate for the 62nd District and Steve Hawley will be back for another term in State Assembly for the 139th District.
They two have seldom had challengers in their districts that are heavily Republican.
Hawley, a Batavia resident, has been in the Assembly for over 20 years. He was first elected on Feb. 28, 2006 in a special election.
He was challenged by Sarah Wolcott, a Democrat from Batavia. Wolcott organized protests against Donald Trump, which attracted several hundred people. She ran made opposition to data centers a focus of her campaign.
Hawley secured 69.7 percent of the vote in a district that includes three counties. He had his largest margin in Orleans County with 74.1 percent of the vote. Here are the totals in the three counties: Orleans – Hawley, 9,901, and Wolcott, 3,461; Genesee – Hawley, 15,506, and Wolcott, 5,863; Monroe – Hawley, 7,471 and Wolcott, 4,950.
Ortt, a North Tonawanda resident, was first elected 12 years ago. He is also the Republican conference leader in the State Senate.
He was challenged by Thomas Arida, a political activist and organizer from North Tonawanda. He has worked on over 150 campaigns at the local, state and federal levels.
Ortt won with 62 percent of the vote in a district that includes all of Niagara and Orleans, and part of western Monroe counties. Orleans gave him his largest margin of support at 73.0 percent.
Here are the totals in the three counties: Orleans – Ortt, 9,754, and Arida, 3,597; Niagara – Ortt, 46,706, and Arida, 30,222; Monroe – Ortt, 15,730 and Arida, 10,129.
