Former Norwich Police Chief Joe Angelino dominated the Republican primary, earning more than 4,600 votes, which was nearly 75 percent overall. He beat out three other candidates vying for the seat.
"My family and I were very relieved and very proud that the voters of the 122nd district resoundingly chose Joe Angelino to be their Republican candidate. I was very pleased, I was very happy, and to be honest, I was quite surprised at the percentage of the vote," said Joe Angelino, (R) 122nd Assembly District candidate.
Angelino served 23 years in the Marine Corps, earning two purple hearts before his time in law enforcement. He plans to use his experience in the police force to create safer communities.
"I've had a lifetime of public service, and a lot of that public service as an administrator was spending taxpayer dollars and I think I have a pretty good reputation of being pretty frugal with somebody else's money," said Angelino.
As a former chief, Angelino disagrees with the idea of de-funding the police. He says while a conversation needs to be had, a decision can't be made so quickly.
"Everybody needs to stop and take a breath. This is not the way to do it. If reform is needed, and I'm not saying it's not, there's always room for improvement, but let’s get everybody at the table, and let's talk about this," said Angelino.
Angelino says he plans to fight for "upstate values." The economy is one of his top priorities. He says in his district, where agriculture is the top industry, local farmers need all the help they can get. Angelino also took issue with the recent Farm Bill.
"People think these farmers up here are some sort of terrible employers when in fact they're competing for the better employees. They're paying a good wage. They really didn’t need this law forced down their throats," said Angelino.
Angelino will challenge Democrat Rick Shaw in the General Election. So far, no other candidates have stated where they will run on other party lines.