Democrat Joe Addabbo appeared to be holding on to his state Senate seat in a closely watched race that was among the most affected by Hurricane Sandy — but the challenger won’t give in.
Addabbo, whose race was being eyed by Senate Democrats clinging to a slim majority, led Republican up-and-comer Eric Ulrich, a city councilman, 56 percent to 44 percent.
“The people here are pumped. It was extra crazy today for voters because they didn’t know where to vote,” Peter Deluca, who works for Addabbo, cheered at his Rego Park, Queens, headquarters.
After Sandy battered parts of the district that were likely to favor Ulrich, voters grappled with last-minute polling-site changes, unusually long lines and difficulty getting to the polls. Ulrich, who on Monday accused the Board of Elections of disenfranchising voters in parts of the district by moving their sites to hard-to-reach locations, wouldn’t concede. The board provided shuttle buses to the polling sites.
Far Rockaway, Belle Harbor and Breezy Point — areas where Ulrich has a strong following — were slammed by the superstorm.
Addabbo’s stronghold in Howard Beach was also rocked by Sandy.
A makeshift polling site in a tent at PS 180 in the Rockaways yesterday came across trouble early in the day when a FEMA generator powering the site had no gas as voting began at 6 a.m. A board spokeswoman said FEMA informed her that thieves stole the fuel overnight.
It wasn’t until the city Department of Education shipped in gas at around 8:15 a.m. that the site was fully operational.