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William M. Mooney Jr. sensed something was up in the Westchester county executive election when he went to his White Plains polling place on election morning, Nov. 7. The parking lot was jammed and at 6:45 a.m., when typically three to five people would be voting, at least 75 were in line.
" That told me right away," said Mcxmey, president of the Westchester County Association, "the race was over."
His instinct bore out.
George latimer, the Democrat state senator, easily defeated two-term incumbent Robert Astorino, the Republican, 116,767 votes to 89,463, according to unofficial election results.
Mooney was not surprised that Latimer won, in a county where far more Democrats than Republicans are registered. But he was surprised by the margin of victory.
Astorino had twice demonstrated that a Republican can win in off-year elections, if Democrats stay at home. He won easily in 2013, 56 to 44 percent, and in 2009, 57 to 43 percent.
The difference this year was the turnout.
More than 206,000 votes were cast. That's about...