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Arcuri votes in Utica as countdown to election night begins

By MEGAN KOSKOVICH

Story Created: Nov 2, 2010 at 11:48 AM EDT

Story Updated: Nov 2, 2010 at 1:00 PM EDT

DECISION 2010 (WKTV) - The countdown is on to find out who will take the 24th Congressional seat - Republican Richard Hanna, or will Central New York buck the national trend and vote in an incumbent?

In this case, that incumbent is Democratic Congressman Michael Arcuri.

Arcuri is hoping that Central New Yorkers will buck the trend and vote him in, despite the anti-incumbent sentiment that seems to have gripped most of the nation.

Arcuri stopped at his polling station at Jones Elementary School in South Utica Tuesday morning, where he was joined by his wife and daughter.

If Arcuri is elected, he'd begin a third term in office in January. He's been slammed in campaign ads by the Republicans for voting too closely with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. However, he says he is not Pelosi, and he votes on what he thinks is best for his district.

Polls show that Republicans could possibly take control of the house, and Arcuri said that politics, much like else in life, comes and goes in waves.

"Sometimes you ride the wave and sometimes you get knocked down by it," Congressman Arcuri said. "In 2006, we rode the wave in, and now it's...to some extent...we're paddling against it. But I think if you do your job and work hard, the voters will recognize it."

As for the rest of Arcuri's day, he plans on stopping by a few other polling stations to greet the voters, and then heads to Cortland for a spaghetti dinner, before returning back to Utica to wait out the results.

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