NEWS

Bill Nojay, deceased, wins Assembly primary election

Justin Murphy
@citizenmurphy

The late William Nojay prevailed in a Republican primary in the 133rd Assembly district, outpolling challenger Rick Milne despite having died by suicide Friday morning.

With 88 percent of voting districts counted, including all districts from Monroe and Livingston counties, Nojay received 2,098 votes (58 percent) to Milne's 1,539 in unofficial results.

Milne won Monroe County by a few dozen votes, but Nojay more than made up the difference in more conservative Livingston County, where a majority of the voters live.

The Republican Party chairmen in Monroe, Livingston and Steuben counties now have 10 days to nominate a replacement for the November ballot to run against Democrat Barbara Baer. The situation is the same for the Conservative, Independence and Reform parties, all of which had also nominated Nojay.

Milne, the mayor of Honeoye Falls, stopped campaigning Friday after the news that Nojay had shot himself near his family plot in Rochester's Riverside Cemetery.

► MORE: Assemblyman Bill Nojay dies by suicide near family graves

"It's disappointing, but it's the cards I've been dealt," Milne said Tuesday night. "Not through a true election process, but through the situation."

Nojay was first elected to the Assembly in 2012. His advocacy for small businesses and gun owners played well in the mostly rural 133rd Assembly district, and also on his daily radio show.

He faced mounting legal troubles, however, including some that have come to light only since his death. There were charges of fraud in Cambodia related to a $1 million investment in a proposed rice exporting operation gone bust.

Separately, Nojay had been scheduled to appear in federal court Friday on fraud charges related to a $1.8 million trust fund he managed for a longtime client and friend, according to sources familiar with the case.

Those charges would likely have influenced at least some voters to shift their support from Nojay to Milne. As a posthumous candidate, though, Nojay's perceived fitness for public office is no longer relevant.

Milne said he has already asked the three party chairmen to choose him as the nominee in Nojay's place. They are expected to make that decision Wednesday at a meeting in Geneseo.

"I've given them a letter and they certainly know I've asked them to choose me," Milne said. "I've got to let them get together to make their decisions. It's too bad the process went the way it went."

JMURPHY7@Gannett.com