Legislator George Borrello speaks Tuesday night with his wife, Kelly, following his Election Day victory for Chautauqua County executive. Borrello defeated Democratic challenger Mike Ferguson 63 percent to 37 percent. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

After a long campaign, Chautauqua County voters chose George Borrello as the new county executive for 2018.

“We got it done tonight,” Borrello said.

The Republican candidate heard the final numbers at Webb’s Captain Table in Mayville, and offered words of hope for the future of Chautauqua County.

Getting down to the figures, Borrello received 63 percent of the vote while 37 percent went to Democratic candidate Mike Ferguson.

Borrello received 16,455 votes and Ferguson received 9,586 votes. There were 10 write-in votes.

Borrello thanked County Executive Vince Horrigan, the outgoing executive, his wife and family and everyone involved in the campaign. Borrello also thanked his campaign manager, Tom Tarpley.

“I really appreciate all that you’ve done,” he said.

He also thanked state Sen. Cathy Young, U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, and State Assemblyman Andy Goodell for their support.

“We started this campaign with a quote from Benjamin Franklin, and that quote was ‘Well done is better than well said,'” Borrello said. “The people of Chautauqua County spoke tonight and said they recognize that we get things done here in Chautauqua County. Tonight, we celebrate that victory.”

Borrello said the first thing on the docket tomorrow is to “elevate Chautauqua County.”

Borrello was previously a county legislator representing Hanover. He pledged during his campaign to visit 100 businesses during his first 100 days in office to conduct surveys and understand the challenges they are experiencing. He said it will not be a “dog and pony show,” but will actually provide information regarding business needs in the area.

Born and raised in Silver Creek and Fredonia, he graduated from Fredonia High School in 1985 and went on to be a graduate from Purdue University in 1989. He founded Top-Shelf Marketing in his early 20s and grew the business into a nationally-recognized supplier in the hospitality industry. He recently retired from his private business career to pursue the county executive seat.

In a concession speech given at Rookie’s in Dunkirk, Ferguson addressed the Democratic Committee.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we did our best,” he said. “We stand here with our heads held high. We believe in every word we said in the past seven months and I will tell you first, congratulations to Mr. Borrello. For the most part, we ran a very clean race and we’re very proud of that. In this day and age of negative campaigning, it was very difficult.”

Ferguson thanked the people who helped him during his campaign.

“Know that I love each and every one of you,” he said. “This has become a personal relationship builder for us.”

Ferguson also thanked his wife, his family members and his campaign manager for their support and involvement.