BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A Democrat who lost the Conservative primary in the Amherst highway supervisor race in June won the general election on Tuesday night.

Steven Floss, running on the Democratic line, defeated Rich Wainwright with 59.6% of the vote before absentee ballots were counted. Floss had 16,939 votes, while Wainwright had 11,468 votes according to the Erie County Board of Elections.

Floss had lost to Wainwright in the Conservative primary, only getting 45% of the vote.

“I got to thank all the voters. It was a long, tough race, we started back in April with the primary,” Floss said. “I’m a little tired after last night, I got a lot of work to do.”

Floss said his main goals will be to keep up the services of the Amherst highway system and improve them. He added that his team will work to pave some of the roads in the area as well.

Part of the job is overseeing the highway budget, which Floss said was around $27 million in 2022. The budget for next year has not yet been finalized.

A 30-year veteran of the Amherst Highway Department, Floss is replacing Patrick Lucey, who was not eligible to run for a third term due to term limits. Lucey has been in charge of Amherst Highways since Jan. 2016.