Onondaga County Comptroller Robert Antonacci has failed in his attempt to become the state’s next comptroller.
Antonacci, a Republican, earned 55,155 votes in Onondaga County to Democratic incumbent Tom DiNapoli’s 66,602. Statewide, Antonacci said he earned more than a million and a half votes, setting a record for an Onondaga County candidate.
“Unfortunately, it looks like we’re going to come up a little bit short tonight,” Antonacci said. “I’ve already called up Mr. DiNapoli and congratulated him on a job well done and a fantastic race. Mr. DiNapoli was a gentleman throughout the entire race and I wish him well.”
Antonacci pledged to keep DiNapoli accountable and to continue to work to make New York more affordable.
“We’ve talked about a few initiatives that came out on the campaign trail. We talked about lowering the cost of state government,” he said. “I’m going to stay involved, and I’m going to make sure that we can make New York state more affordable for your family and mine.”
Antonacci was the first statewide candidate to take advantage of a pilot program that allowed him to pursue public campaign financing. But he fell short of meeting the $200,000 threshold in smaller donations to qualify as he trailed far behind DiNapoli in the polls. DiNapoli raised more than $3 million for his campaign.
In addition to the lack of funding, Antonacci blamed the loss on his lack of name recognition statewide.
“A friend of mine said I’m like a Hoffmann hot dog,” he said, “loved in Central New York, but not too well-known in the rest of the state.”
