By Aaron Besecker

Although results are unofficial, Republican Christopher L. Jacobs appears to have won the race for Erie County Clerk over Democrat Maria Whyte.

With 98 percent of the vote in, Jacobs had a lead of 3,668 votes: 105,063 votes to Whyte's 101,395.

That meant Jacobs had 51 percent of the vote to Whyte's 49 percent.

The race between Jacobs and Whyte included ads from Whyte's campaign criticizing Jacobs' record on the Buffalo School Board.

Jacobs, who has been a member of the Buffalo Board of Education since 2004, was criticized by Whyte's campaign for not mentioning his school board post in his advertisements.

One of Jacobs' advertisements — involving a not-for-profit scholarship fund which Jacobs founded — drew questions from Whyte supporters who said the use of the group in the ad may have violated IRS regulations.

Jacobs' supporters fired back, calling for Whyte to return donations from a labor union who had members and leaders who were accused in a federal indictment in 2008 of running a criminal enterprise aimed at forcing construction companies to hire its workers while punishing those who refused.

Jacobs, 44, is the founder and president of Avalon Development, which owns and manages several buildings in the city's Theater District.

He previously worked for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as a not-for-profit called the Empowerment Network. He ran for County Legislature in 1995, and for State Senate in a special election in March 2006. From 2000 to 2002, he worked in the Erie County Office of Planning and Economic Development as a deputy commissioner.

He was appointed Secretary of State by former Gov. George E. Pataki and helped establish the South Buffalo Charter School.

His campaign touted his business experience.

Whyte, 34, has been majority leader on the Erie County Legislature since her election six years ago. She is viewed as one of the Legislature's most liberal members.

She previously served as executive director of the Coalition for Economic Justice, a local nonprofit, for five years.

During the campaign, Whyte said she saw leadership as a key issue of the race.

A group of 13 town supervisors who represent most of southern Erie County endorsed Jacobs, citing Whyte's support for a reapportionment proposal that would have put more than 60 percent of the county in one legislative district.

Both candidates outlined a number of proposals they promised to enact if elected, which they said would make the public's interaction with the office more efficient.

Jacobs' proposals included expanding a discount program for veterans, while Whyte said she would digitize records to make them "more searchable for taxpayers."

Both said they would implement changes to help keep more motor vehicle registration fees in Erie County, rather than seeing them taken into the state coffers.

Renewing your motor vehicle registration through the state Department of Motor Vehicles' website allows the state to keep 12.7 percent of the fee, while registering through a county office keeps the funds in the local coffers.

Jacobs said he would start using drop boxes in auto bureaus and other public places to collect registration renewals, as well as adding a mobile bureau that would be used in large public places.

Whyte said she would start phone- and Web-based motor vehicle license renewals, and shift existing personnel into the phone registration operations.

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The Buffalo News