POLITICS: Democrats celebrate a write-in win

Leaders of the Monroe County Democratic Party are finding plenty to cheer about in the results of yesterday's primary election. Not only did all of their endorsed candidates fend off their Democratic challengers, but apparently one of their candidates picked up a win in an Independence Party primary.

Democrats said this afternoon that Michael Condello, whose name wasn't even on the ballot, won as a write-in candidate in the Independence primary for the 13th District County Legislature seat (Henrietta). Condello, who is running for that seat as a Democrat, defeated the two Independence candidates on the ballot, John Howland and Whitney Carleton. He'll now have two lines on the November ballot.

Condello's Independence win could be significant. Howland, a former Henrietta Town Board member, is a Republican and hopes to replace the current 13th District legislator, Jack Driscoll, a Republican who is retiring at the end of this year. Democrats have only a one-vote minority in the County Legislature, and they're hoping to win control of the legislature in November.

New York State law permits candidates to run on more than one party line, and it's not unusual for minor-party votes to determine the winner.