Utica (WSYR-TV) - Democrat Michael Arcuri conceded to Republican Richard Hanna shortly before 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, but vowed to assist Hanna in the transition.
Arcuri is not asking for a recount, despite the fact that he said there are 13,000 outstanding absentee ballots. When Arcuri announced his concession, he had 82,000 votes, while Hanna had 94,000.
Hanna said that he believes voters were anxious to elect someone who they believe is an outsider.
"I really believe people are ready to listen to someone other than a career politician," Hanna said.
In his concession speech, Arcuri said it was going to be a long night as final results were being tabulated, but he knew it was time to concede when he lost counties he traditionally won. He believes Tuesday night's local results are emblematic of national trends.
"There's a lot of angst...I think that's starting to show nationally. We'll have to see what happens here locally," he said.
For his future, Arcuri says he will be stepping out of the political spotlight. He plans to return to being a normal citizen his job as a lawyer. He also told NewsChannel 9 he was excited about his baby being on the way.
