Gary McCarthy remembered Election Nights past as he spoke Thursday morning at St. John the Evangelist Church. Republicans and Democrats from Schenectady's Second Ward would gather at the former Westminster United Presbyterian Church at Avenue A and Mason Street and wait for poll numbers.

McCarthy said people inside the church were not divided by party affiliations. They gathered as neighbors and friends. "The man that set that collegial atmosphere was Mayor Frank Duci," said McCarthy, Schenectady's current mayor. "He was the mayor, but everybody was an equal. He would talk about issues, the campaigns. We'd poke fun at each other and make our predictions."