Incumbent Angelo Santabarbara has won the Democratic nomination for the state’s 111th Assembly District, beating out Schenectady native Justin Chaires.
Santabarbara could not be reached for comment prior to press time.
However, Santabarbara, who was also looking for the Conservative Party nomination, lost to current first-term Rotterdam Town Board member Joseph Mastroianni. Mastroianni also won the Republican nomination against opponent Michael Arbige.
“I’ll work to be honest, transparent and uphold the Constitution,” Mastroianni said.
If elected in November, he said he wants to think outside the box and work across the aisle, but also appeal laws related to items such as bail reform and the Safe Act, calling such laws “feel good legislation.”
Chaires, who was also running for the Working Families nomination, lost to Delanson resident Robert Menzies.
The new 111th Assembly District spans almost all of Schenectady County and the easternmost portion of Montgomery County.
Voters who turned out in Rotterdam also decided whom they wanted as their party’s nominee for governor and lieutenant governor.
“I am voting for Kathy Hochul,” said Liz Cifarelli, a 31-year resident of Rotterdam, outside of Rotterdam Town Hall Tuesday. “I like what she’s doing so far.”
She said Hochul’s view on establishing gun laws and ensuring reproductive rights and access to abortions align with her views. For that reason, Cifarelli also voted for current Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado and Santabarbara.
“I really feel he is working for the best interest of the people of Rotterdam,” she said about Santabarbara.
Jamie Salerno said he’s voting in every election until the day he dies, noting he had previously been voting sporadically. He said he decided he no longer wanted to be quiet on his conservative views.
“I’m going for conservative values in my candidates,” he said.
Salerno said he is pro-life, pro-Second Amendment and pro-anything military, having served in the military.
Gloria Mastroianni, a 55-year resident of Rotterdam, turned out to vote just days after a bad fall.
“I always come to vote,” she said.
Like Cifarelli and Salerno, Mastroianni said she selected candidates she thought fit her views and people she believed would make things change, including Hochul, Delgado and Santabarbara.
“I’ve talked to him a few times,” Mastroianni said about Santabarbara. “He’s a very nice man.”
Early voting in both counties differed.
In Montgomery County, 51% of Democratic voter, 47% of Republican voters and 3% of Conservative voters turned out to cast ballots early for multiple county-wide races across the three parties this year. Republican Commissioner Terrance J. Smith said it would be like comparing apples to oranges to look at the 2022 early voting figures for the primaries against the 2021 early voting figures because there was no Democratic primary, one county-wide for the Conservative Party and three local Republican Party races.
However, Smith said in the 15 years he’s worked at the Montgomery County Board of Elections this is one of the few times, if not the first time, he’s seen all four parties have a candidate running for some sort of office.
In Schenectady County the Board of Elections said there were over 2,000 early ballots cast compared to 975 in 2021.
Categories: Fulton Montgomery Schoharie, Schenectady County
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Joe only lost because of Schenectady which is heavy (free for me) democrats.
The incumbent won? Say it isn’t so.