Republican Family Court Judge Stacey Romeo won a state Supreme Court judgeship Tuesday as competition for a second open judgeship likely won’t be determined until next week.

About 2,000 votes now separate Democrat Erin Skinner from Republican Ed White in the race for second judgeship, with thousands of mail-in ballots remaining to be counted in the eight-county region. This countdown could continue until next week.

Romeo received nearly 28 percent of the vote in the four-way contest, according to unofficial results, which put her nearly 33,000 votes ahead of Skinner, who has nearly 25 percent of the vote. Skinner’s vote total is only a few tenths of a point ahead of White’s.

The fourth candidate, Democrat John Bringewatt, received nearly 23 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results.

Monroe County, the most populous of the eight counties, has now strengthened Democrats’ chance of winning a state Supreme Court judgeship in the Seventh Judicial District, as the regional district is called. As Monroe County becomes a Democratic stronghold, its voting strength can sometimes match the Republican strength of outlying counties, which lean more toward the GOP.

Romeo is a family court judge and the only candidate to receive the highest rating from the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys, the only local legal organization rating judicial candidates this year.

Skinner is a senior law clerk in the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court and White is a senior law clerk in the State Supreme Court. Bringewatt heads the county’s legal department.

— Gary Craig is a veteran Democrat and Chronicle reporter who has covered judicial elections for more than 20 years and has finally learned not to stay up waiting for results from the Seventh Judicial District on election night.

This article originally appeared on the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Stacey Romeo becomes New York Supreme Court justice