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Assemblyman Ron Castorina Wins Republican Primary on Staten Island

By Nicholas Rizzi | September 14, 2016 2:58pm
 Assemblyman Ron Castorina Jr. won the Republican primary against Janine Materna for the nomination in the November election for the 62nd Assembly district. Castorina will run unopposed in the general election.
Assemblyman Ron Castorina Jr. won the Republican primary against Janine Materna for the nomination in the November election for the 62nd Assembly district. Castorina will run unopposed in the general election.
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DNAinfo/Nicholas Rizzi

STATEN ISLAND — Assemblyman Ron Castorina Jr. defeated challenger Janine Materna in the Republican primary for the 62nd Assembly District Tuesday night, essentially clinching his seat in the general election.

After a bitter primary race, the freshman Assembly member defeated Materna with 68 percent of the vote in the South Shore race, according to the Board of Elections. 

Since no Democrat filed to run, Castorina will run unopposed for the seat in the November election.

Castorina first ran unopposed for the seat during a special election earlier this year to replace Joe Borelli, who left the Assembly to move to the City Council.

While no Democrat filed to run again for the seat in the November general election, South Shore Civic Association president Materna threw her hat into the Republican primary for the seat.

During the race, Materna claimed Castorina was arrested in Rhode Island — even though his only infraction was a speeding ticket 15 years ago — called him a carpetbagger who only moved to the district for the seat and blasted him for falsely claiming a $303 tax exemption on one of his homes.

For his part, Castorina said Materna, who ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for the City Council in 2009, only switched parties to have a chance of winning in the Republican leaning district.

During the campaign, Castorina vowed to tackle the borough's heroin problem, fight for better mass transit options in the district and work on repairing its infrastructure if elected.