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| Senator Joe Addabbo with wife Dawn - Photo Brendan Brosh |
Joe Addabbo Jr., freshman state senator from Ozone Park, retained his seat on Tuesday night over challenger Anthony Como, despite a wave of anti-incumbent sentiment that characterized the campaign season.
Addabbo, who spent much of his first two years in state office helping to put together the Aqueductdeal and attempting to create jobs in the community, saw his work pay off on election night, when he finished with a more than 5,000 vote unofficial margin over challenger Anthony Como.
Como, a former city councilman, had the backing of the entire state Republican caucus, who saw the seat as a key to taking back the state Senate.
At his party on election night at Russo's On The Bay, Addabbo said he was thrilled with the chance to return to his seat.
"I'm so grateful all the people came together," he said. "We had 500 volunteers."
Without conceding, Como addressed supporters in his office in Glendale. He struck some conciliatory tones with his somewhat crestfallen staff, but tried to keep a stiff upper lip.
"I'm very proud of the race we ran together as a family, as a team," Como said. "Many of you were here day one, many of you were here before day one….unfortunately here we're not exactly happy with the way that it went, but until all the numbers are in we're just going to wait and see."
Como pointed to some voter discrepancies and irregularities at the polling sites to give his supporters a glimmer of hope, but by the time most of them had gone home, his deficit had grown to more than 5,000 votes.
Addabbo volunteer Sean McCabe, 27, of Ozone Park, said he thought the voting system had a few problems but that ultimately the board of elections got it right.
"The new system has a few hiccups. They could get better with it," McCabe said. He also added that he was hopeful that Addabbo could help turn the economy around during his second term in Albany.
After his victory speech, Addabbo admitted that he and his colleagues have a lot of work to do.
"We have a lot of repairs that go beyond politics," Addabbo said. "When we talk about dysfunction it's unbiased."
