(09/13/06) WESTCHESTER - Frontrunners across the board won their races in New York?s primary elections Tuesday and the competition began Wednesday for the general election just eight weeks away.

U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) defeated anti-war activist and challenger Jonathan Tasini with 83 percent of the vote. Clinton runs for re-election amid widespread speculation that she plans a 2008 presidential bid. Former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer beat K.T. McFarland to challenge Clinton with 60 percent of the vote in the Republican Party?s only statewide primary.

The Democratic gubernatorial race also yielded no surprises, according to opinion polls leading up to the primaries. State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer claimed victory in a landslide over Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi. Spitzer faces off against Republican John Faso in November after receiving 81 percent of the Democratic vote.

And to replace Spitzer as Attorney General, the Democrats chose Andrew Cuomo as their candidate over Mark Green and Sean Patrick Maloney. Cuomo received a majority of the vote with 53 percent and will compete with former Westchester District Attorney Jeannine Pirro for the post come November. Pirro ran unopposed for the GOP nomination.

Polls open for the general election on November 7.

 

Related Information: Poll Results