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Politics & Government

Assemb. Michelle Schimel Celebrates Win

Michelle Schimel keeps 16th State Assembly District.

Assemb. Michelle Schimel celebrated her win with the Great Neck Democratic Club at the Inn at Great Neck Tuesday evening.

"This was kind of like having a final and you've been studying all along so I didn't have to cram," she told Patch. "I was very pleased with the way things went. I always felt if you do good government, you'll do okay. Today, I was ready to take a chill and worry about other friends who we want to win, like Tom DiNapoli and Craig Johnson, so we were able to turn our resources over to our friends."

"Just from word on the street, I got the feeling I was going to be okay," she said. "I always run like I'm running against George Washington, and that's kind of how I took it. In all fairness, my opponent was very fair and he didn't throw a lot of mud on me and I'm not a mud-thrower. I was very pleased with the campaign and I liked everything about it."

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Her opponent, Scott Diamond, was not surprised – but heeded warning – when he learned of his defeat.

"That's fine, its expected, this race was pretty much about the issues and fighting a lot of things in Albany, listening to what the people wanted," he said. "New York State went back to Michelle. Nationally, on the other hand, the Republicans went in a different direction. In two years, who knows what can go on?"

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Schimel teased the crowd at the Inn by letting a paper towel roll loose when she thanked people, after her win.

 "I just have a few thank you's," she said jokingly. "I think this is the year that I've never been prouder to be a New York State Democrat. It's been a wonderful ride for me. We have something to be very proud of. I have never seen a better turn out in terms of the volunteer base, in terms of the good will, in terms of the issues we bring forth. We definitely had the best ticket around and we all deserve a round of applause."

First thing tomorrow morning, at 6:15 a.m., Schimel will be at the Port Washington train station, thanking the most important people of all, the voters.

"Port Washington was very important," she said. "I love them. I spend a lot of time in Port, partly because I'm liked in Port and you want to go to places that like. After a while, you get so comfortable there and it's fun."

She's ready to tackle on some issues right away.

"Rumor has it that I'm going to be going back to Albany in about a week," she said. "I think there's a special session on Nov. 15th.  I'm hoping we bring back Hydrofracking legislation. It's a type of drilling that they want to do in the Marcellus Shale that we want a moratorium on. It's not a good thing to do. It's bad. They want natural gas. They think that's how you get off foreign oil, but it paralyzes our water supply. We know technology doesn't cure all ails. Case in point, the Gulf. When things go wrong, it's not so easy to fix. I don't think we know enough about it."

Schimel 21,876  57.99% Diamond 15,841 41.99
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