The last undecided seat on Western New York's State Supreme Court bench has a winner: Democrat Anne Joynt, who defeated Republican Jonathan Hickey in a contest that remained unresolved after election night. The results are not yet official, but the outcome is being described as all but certain.
The outcome, reported by the Buffalo News, closes out the fourth and final contest among the four State Supreme Court seats up for grabs in the Eighth Judicial District this year. Joynt, a Democrat and lawyer in private practice, had been trailing in uncertainty for days after Election Day while votes continued to be tallied. The same Buffalo News report notes that her mother, Cathy Joynt, a lifelong Republican voter, had endorsed her daughter's campaign.
A separate Buffalo News report published earlier in the race had flagged that Joynt's election was not yet official and that her lead over Hickey was expected to grow once all ballots were counted. That earlier accounting lines up with the final tally described in the paper's latest story, though neither report presents a certified vote count.
A District Spanning Eight Counties
The Eighth Judicial District spans eight counties in Western New York. The district has four State Supreme Court seats up for grabs this year.
Three of the four Eighth District seats were decided well before Joynt's race was settled. Michael Amodeo, a Democrat, along with Robert Richardson and Deanne Tripi, both Republicans, were reported elected to those other seats, according to WIVB. That left the fourth seat to be determined, with Joynt facing Hickey.
Counting Delays and Outstanding Ballots
The nysfocus.com results page for the Eighth Judicial District notes that its figures exclude absentee, affidavit and military ballots counted after election night.
Wyoming County Board of Elections officials did not respond to messages seeking comment on Wednesday, the Buffalo News reported.
Money and Family Ties Shaped the Campaign
The race unfolded against a backdrop of heavy spending and family involvement across Western New York's judicial contests. The two State Supreme Court candidates who received cross-party backing raised and spent far less money than nominees who ran without that support, the Buffalo News reported in its takeaways from the judicial races. Separately, the paper reported that candidates for state judge across the region received help from family members, including through television ads and campaign donations — a dynamic echoed in Joynt's own race, where her mother's endorsement became part of the campaign narrative.
NYS Focus counted seven candidates for the district's four open judicial posts, noting that two candidates appeared on both the Democratic and Republican lines.
Joynt's win, once certified, would complete the slate of four Eighth Judicial District justices alongside Amodeo, Richardson and Tripi. The Buffalo News story was reported by staff reporter Stephen T. Watson.
