The two Republican and Conservative Party candidates for Carmel Town Board were elected to the council, defeating the sole Democratic candidate, according to unofficial results from the Putnam County Board of Elections.
Incumbent Republican Mike Lugo received 4,334 votes (39 percent), and Robert Schanil Jr., a former police officer and a former board member, garnered 4,062 votes (36 percent), while Democrat Brett Wieland, a Carmel Hamlet resident, finished third in the balloting, pulling in 2,841 votes (25 percent). Write-in votes amounted to less than 1 percent of the ballots cast.
Schanil said he was born for public service.
“I enjoy helping people. As a police officer, I was always involved in community groups—the Knights of Columbus, scouting, football coaching,” he said during the campaign. “Public service has been a way for me to give back.”
Lugo won a special election in 2024 to finish the term of former councilman Steve Baranowski, who resigned in late 2023.
“I am not a politician. I am a father, husband and small business owner who can be a valuable asset to Carmel,” Lugo told Mahopac News. “My decision to run was an easy one. As I sat back and watched meeting after meeting, one issue after the next, I noticed a disconnect between the community and our local government. Trust was no longer existent.”
Lugo will now begin his first full two-year term as a councilman.
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