Time for 'reflection' as McCracken earns decisive win over endorsed candidate in GOP primary

Tanner McCracken’s landslide primary victory for Putnam County Legislature over endorsed candidate Frank Lombardi has left local Republicans debating whether the result signals a broader shift in GOP politics—or simply the success of a stronger campaign.

The 26-year-old Mahopac Board of Education trustee defeated experienced Town Councilman Lombardi with nearly 75 percent of the vote in the race for the Putnam County District 8 seat.

McCracken previously earned the backing of the town’s Conservative Party. He will face Democrat Gwen Burke in the fall.

In an election night text to Mahopac News, the 26-year-old said, “The people have spoken.”

But what are they saying?

McCracken’s victory—which came on the same night District 3 challenger Joe Cunningham defeated endorsed candidate Jorma Tompuri with 62 percent of the vote—was the latest in a string of local GOP primaries won by non-endorsed candidates. Should he defeat Burke in the general election, McCracken will join 24-year-old Jake D’Angelo, who defeated endorsed candidate Greg Ellner in the 2025 GOP primary for District 5 (Carmel) on the Legislature.

The Carmel GOP has seen several other successful challenges to its endorsed candidates in recent years. Carmel Supervisor Mike Cazzari defeated incumbent Ken Schmitt to win his first term in 2022. (After earning the committee’s endorsement, Cazzari defeated another challenge from Schmitt in 2024, but after losing the 2026 endorsement to Councilman Robert Kearns, he chose not to force a primary.)

Kearns – who will run unopposed for supervisor in November – did not earn the committee’s nod in 2023, but received the most votes in a three-way Republican primary for two Town Board seats, with Lombardi finishing second. Robert Schanil, who lost that race, won election to the Town Board last fall.

Perhaps the most notable example came in the race for highway superintendent, when Mike Stern defeated Republican and Conservative nominee Gerard Ahler in a write-in campaign after failing to secure the parties’ endorsements.

The District 8 seat opened up after longtime incumbent Amy Sayegh decided not to seek reelection. Sayegh supported Lombardi, an attorney, who has long been involved in local politics and community causes. McCracken, seeing an open seat as fair game, presented his case to the Town of Carmel Republican Committee, which voted to endorse Lombardi back in February.

After being denied the endorsement of the Town of Carmel Republican Committee, McCracken decided to force a primary, a decision that some in the party establishment criticized. At the time, McCracken told Mahopac News he was encouraged to step aside and told to "wait his turn" and that Lombardi was "up next."

Instead, he mounted a vigorous and ultimately successful campaign. He said voters have rejected insider politics.

“This election proved that no amount of backroom politics can stop the will of the people," he said. “The voters had my back as I took on the political establishment that has been more focused on serving themselves than serving the community. Now, the people of Mahopac have a representative in me that will always have their back.”

Despite the loss, Lombardi—who began his current term in January 2024—told Mahopac News he will continue to be involved in local government.

“I look forward to continuing to serve the people of the entire Town of Carmel on the Town Board and making the Town of Carmel the best that it can be,” he said.

Do endorsements matter?

A week after the election, observers were divided about whether McCracken’s win—and the margin of victory—reflected dissatisfaction with the committee endorsement process or simply a strong door-to-door campaign that saw him knock on “thousands of doors,” as one observer put it.

“If you’re able to do the legwork, get out there, go door to door and press the flesh with voters, you’re more likely to get elected,” said veteran political consultant and Mahopac resident Robert Buckley. “That’s the bottom line. This is nothing new.”

Buckley, who has been directly involved in more than 20 Putnam County campaigns over the years, pointed to successful primary challenges of past election cycles and said they all came down to both the willingness to challenge the establishment and the effort required to mount a campaign without committee support.

“You have to go out and get signatures, and you don’t have the GOP backing you,” Buckley said. “So it takes a lot of work as an individual to get the necessary petitions to get on the ballot and force a primary. Most people choose not to do it.

“When you have the backing of the party, it’s much easier to run a primary because you have people campaigning for you and collecting signatures to get you on the ballot.”

For McCracken, that obstacle became even greater after a 2025 rule change barred GOP committee members from collecting signatures for non-endorsed candidates. The rule landed D’Angelo and Daniel Dudek in a dispute with party leadership. A court date over whether the committee can hold a disciplinary hearing is scheduled for later this month.

“The results of these primaries should be a wake-up call for the Republican establishment,” said D’Angelo, who stands by his decision to support McCracken. “The candidates backed by party insiders weren’t just defeated—they were soundly rejected by Republican voters.

“The committee needs to have an honest conversation about why they keep getting it wrong,” D’Angelo added. “Voters are sending a clear message, and too many party leaders seem unwilling to hear it.

“If they’re serious about changing course, great. If not, then it’s fair to ask whether new leadership is needed. In any other organization, repeated failure has consequences. Why should politics be any different?”

In conversations before the primary, both county and town leaders emphasized that McCracken had every right to run a primary. After the vote, Putnam County Republican Chairman Andres Gil said the primary process worked as intended.

“We have great candidates going forward and I’m proud to support them and I’m excited for them,” Gil said of McCracken and Cunningham. “The process worked. The committee makes selections but don’t always get it right. The primary process is a check on leadership. As a combat veteran, I strongly believe in letting the process work and giving voters a say.”

Gil acknowledged that recent results warrant discussion within the party.

“It does show a pattern,” he said. “We as a party need to have an internal reflection period. A transparent process is crucial—it’s something we have to look into.”

Several observers said they were less surprised by McCracken's win than by the margin of victory.

“McCracken knocked on a ton of doors,” one said. “It’s not a surprise that the person who connected with more Republican voters won.”

While some observers have framed McCracken’s win—coupled with those in other Putnam races—as a shift away from the local political establishment, Carmel Republican Chairman Nick Fannin argued that McCracken was no outsider to local voters.

“Regarding the other local races and the ‘anti-establishment’ framing, I think that line is overstated here,” Fannin said. “Tanner has served multiple terms on the Mahopac School Board. He has built his career working with the NYS Senate Republicans, and he has been a great committee member on the Carmel Republican Committee for over two years. He knows Putnam politics very well. Virtually all politicians are connected to some established political network or another. Even many so-called ‘new’ faces have been involved for years.”

“These days, the term ‘anti-establishment’ is frequently used to mean little more than ‘not endorsed by the elected Republican committee,’” Fannin added. “Tanner ran a strong campaign, and his messaging and platform resonated with Republican voters in Legislative District 8."

Several observers noted that the turnout was unusually high for a primary.

"I’m proud of the turnout in this race," Fannin said. "We’re finally back to pre-COVID levels of primary participation.”

Like Fannin, Buckley was cautious about whether McCracken’s victory reflected a changing of the guard or simply the result of a well-run campaign.

“I know you think it’s a trend, but when you look back, other people won primaries,” he said. “Tanner is a good candidate. He works for Sen. Robert Ortt—and Ortt is the minority leader in Albany. He has been involved with the school board and with politics since he was in college.

“He’s young, but he’s been around a long time.”