Shayne Gallo takes Kingston's top prize

Brother was Mayor T.R. Gallo
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Shayne Gallo, the newly elected Kingston mayor greets family members and supporters at Frank Guido's Little Italy restaurant in Kingston, NY on Tuesday, November 8, 2011. Republican Gallo defeated Democratic candidate Ron Polacco. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-RecordCHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

KINGSTON — The Gallo name returned to City Hall Tuesday night as late Mayor T.R. Gallo's older brother and fellow Democrat, Shayne, beat Republican candidate Ron Polacco for the city's top job.

Conservative Party candidate Richard Cahill finished a distant third, with about twice as many votes as last-place finisher Steve Ladin.

Shayne Gallo was expected to win in a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 2-1 ratio. Democrats also won a majority of aldermanic seats.

Both of the top two mayoral candidates traveled a long, strange road to their candidacies: neither one received their party's endorsement and both of them finally won their places on the ballot by fewer than a dozen primary votes. Gallo's name was on the Democratic, Working Families and Independence lines.

Gallo appeared at Frank Guido's Little Italy restaurant to a tumultuous welcome from scores of his supporters. Sporting a red rose boutonniere and wearing a reserved smile, he kissed his mother Nancy, thanked the crowd and hugged incumbent Alderman-at-Large James Noble. He thanked the Working Families Party before mentioning the Democratic Party, and said he was looking forward to dealing with the challenges facing the city.

While supporters shouted the word "landslide!" Gallo said, "I'll miss Charlie Landi," reminding the crowd that the 3rd-Ward alderman had lost his seat to Republican-Conservative Nathaniel Horowitz in the night's surprise upset. Landi's run as alderman began 23 years ago, when Horowitz was 4 years old.

Landi said he wasn't surprised by the vote and that "clearly there was an anti-incumbency mood out there."

Horowitz said he wasn't surprised either,

"The City of Kingston really needed someone to stand up for the taxpayers instead of the service-seekers," he said.

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