The Board of Elections is calling Tuesday`s Democratic primary for the 25th Congressional District a historic one. 

“I was pleased to see that the work that had been done with the various campaigns actually resulted in the city sticking very close to the towns and we don`t see that usually. Usually the city turnout is less,” said Elections Commissioner Tom Ferrarese. 

According to Ferrarese, 19 percent of registered democrats voted in the primary for the 25th Congressional District. The board says that number is significantly higher than previous years of 5 and 8 percent. The congressional seat became empty in March following the death of long time Congresswoman Louise Slaughter.

Board of Elections voting percentages have concluded that 19.5 percent of town registered Democrats voted in the election versus 19.3% registered Democrats in the city. Monroe County`s overall voter turnout in the 2018 Democratic primary came out to 19.4 percent.

Ferrarese says this is the highest voter turnout in a federal primary he`s seen since 1992.

“We`ve heard people talking about wanting to get out and vote more, and now it`s not just talk, we actually have some sign of it,” said Commissioner Ferrarese. 

Democratic primary winner Joe Morelle and Republican candidate Jim Maxwell will face off for the 25th Congressional District seat in the general election on November 6th.