JOHNSTOWN - Fulton County Family Court Judge Edward F. Skoda's victory over Gloversville City Attorney John N. Clo appears to have been decisive in the race for a 10-year term on the Family Court bench.

The results are not yet official, and an election machine problem has prevented results in five towns from being counted. As of Tuesday night, however, Skoda led Clo 5,647 to 2,056.

Votes still need to be tabulated in places where voting machine glitches caused a delay: Bleecker, Broadalbin, Northampton, Oppenheim and two of Perth's four districts.

Fulton County Deputy Republican Election Commissioner Linda Madison said scanners in some machines froze up Tuesday, which prevented votes from being counted automatically.

A court order related to the 23rd Congressional District special election, however, prohibits any votes in the district from being counted by hand. Therefore, results from those towns, which all are in the 23rd District, are unknown today.

A total of 944 absentee ballots also have been sent out in the county, and those will be counted within the next week.

Barring a stunning turn of events, however, Skoda, a Republican, will continue to serve as the county's Family Court judge. He was nominated to the post earlier this year by Gov. David Paterson after former Family Court Judge David F. Jung was removed from the bench last fall by the state Court of Appeals. The state Commission on Judicial Conduct determined Jung had violated the rights of some individuals in Family Court cases.

At a Republican Party gathering at the Townhouse restaurant on Tuesday night, Skoda said he was humbled by the results.

"It's pretty nice to know that the people supporting you are looking forward to you being in the position," he said.

He said the campaign season has been long, but he has enjoyed meeting many county residents. He said he will effectively continue the work he has been doing on the bench.

"You just keep working at it through experience and try and give all the litigants their day in court and be fair and impartial when you're doing it," he said. "And hopefully make [what is] a lot of times a bad experience as good as it possibly can be."

Clo ran on the Independence ticket and the Conservative line after Skoda defeated him in September's Republican primary. He defeated Skoda in the Conservative primary in September.

"Certainly, I congratulate Judge Skoda on his victory," Clo said Tuesday. "And I thank my wife and my family and my many, many volunteers who helped me so much on my campaign," he said. "It has been a blessing and an amazing experience. I look forward to doing it again soon."

Clo said he could see himself running for another judicial post in the future, or any position where his qualifications "would best serve the public."

The position of Family Court judge pays $136,700 annually.

Zach Subar can be reached by e-mail at ruralnews@leaderherald.com.