Assembly Candidates Talk Voter Turnout

Assemblyman Robert Castelli, who is running for re-election as the 93rd district's representative in Albany, voted at Increase Miller Elementary School at noon today. He said the power outages were his focus today—not "standing at the train station, kissing babies," which he said would not have been appropriate in the aftermath of storm Sandy.

He acknowledged the work done so far by utility companies to restore power to thousands of residents but said the "slow start time" was disappointing for the residents in his district. "They knew the storm was coming, and crews should have been in place before the storm, not three days after it arrived," he said.

"Whether or not I am re-elected, I am still here to do a job, and that, right now, is to work on this power situation," he said.

Castelli's opponent, White Plains attorney David Buchwald, voted in White Plains earlier today. When reached by Patch he said he was inspired by the turnout he was seeing, despite the power outages and disruptions caused by the storm.

"Voters are enthusiastic," he said. "The top issues today are to get everyone's power back, but for the long-term, voters want to see a good number of jobs brought to the area. Now it is up to the voters, and I am eager to see how this race turns out."