HILLTOWNS — Democratic Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara holds a narrow lead of about 6,000 votes over his Republican challenger, Paul DeLorenzo, in the race to represent 111th Assembly District, according to unofficial results from the state’s board of elections.

Absentee votes can arrive at the board of elections office as late as Nov. 10 under New York State Law, but Albany County’s Democratic election commissioner, Matthew Clyne, told The Enterprise this week that there are unlikely to be any surprises in the last batch of votes, since paper ballots tend to have the same proportions as electronic ballots, which are tabulated immediately. 

There are nearly 78,000 registered active voters in the 111th Assembly District, which comprises Montgomery County and parts of Schenectady and Albany counties.

Roughly 47,500 of these voters — 61 percent — have submitted ballots so far, with Santabarbara winning just under 26,000 of these — 55 percent — across the Democratic, Conservative, and Independence party lines; DeLorenzo, on the Republican line, won nearly 20,000 votes, or 42 percent. More than 1,500 ballots — 3 percent — were left blank. 

Enrollment in District 111 includes 30,195 Democrats and 21,554 Republicans, according to the state’s board of elections as of Feb. 21. An additional 20,195 registered voters in District 111 are not enrolled in any political party. The rest of the 80,741 registered voters in the district belong to small parties with the Independence Party topping the list at 4,739 followed by the Conservative Party at 3,009. The other small parties have fewer than 1,000 residents enrolled.

In light of these numbers, Santabarbara’s early lead is not surprising, though the margin is slimmer than one might expect between a longtime incumbent and a political neophyte. The conventional wisdom of this year’s election has been that, because of the politicization of both the coronavirus pandemic and the act of voting by mail, late results will show more Democratic votes. If the theory holds, it’s likely that Santabarbara will end up with a healthier margin.

Early results for the Conservative Primary, held on June 23, showed DeLorenzo 47 points ahead of Santabarbara, who only won 23 percent of the early votes. But the race was ultimately called for Santabarbara, who wound up with 50 percent of the vote, against DeLorenzo’s 46 percent.

Neither candidate could be reached for comment before press time. 

Santabarbara was first elected to the 111th Assembly seat in 2013, giving up his job as a full-time civil engineer. He is a moderate Democrat, supporting the SAFE (Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement) Act while aiming to preserve the rights entrusted by the Second Amendment, and cautiously supporting single-payer health care while voicing concerns about the impact on taxpayers and businesses. 

DeLorenzo, an attorney, hoped to shift the district’s representation further to the right, opposing bail and police reforms, as well as single-payer health insurance and the SAFE Act.

“I’m a big fan of private health insurance,” DeLorenzo told The Enterprise last month, “and, if done appropriately, people will receive the coverage they should … I just don’t believe in a uniform health care. To me that’s a form of — I hate to use the word — but it’s a form of socialism … The more individuals have to work for the things they own, the things they desire, the better off every society is.”

Santabarbara massively outraised DeLorenzo during the campaign, acquiring $110,100 from 90 donors, compared to DeLorenzo’s $14,795, culled from 39 donors. Santabarbara’s largest donations came from the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee, which made two donations totaling $65,300.

DeLorenzo may have been helped by the surge of support for Donald Trump who garnered 65 percent of the vote in Montgomery County compared to Joe Biden’s 33 percent, according to unofficial results from the state board of elections as of Nov. 4.