Senate hopefuls in campaign blitz finales

LaWanda J. Shaver was minding to Olde World Pottery on Monday morning when the door opened and in walked state Senate candidate William A. Barclay, a gaggle of media and a throng of Republicans whooping and waving signs.

"I thought it was awesome," she said of the contingent, which included Mr. Barclay's wife, Margaret, and former state Sen. James W. Wright. "I'm downtown and it's just a ghost town. And here we had all these people today."

The manager said Mr. Barclay, who was touring Watertown's Public Square, asked her to vote in today's special election for the 48th Senate District seat.

"I told him he's got my vote," Mrs. Shaver said. "When I said that, everyone went 'Yay!' It was cool."

Michael J. DeFranco, owner of Computer Doctors, 104 Franklin St., was caught off guard by the sudden attention. He was washing up in the bathroom when Mr. Wright walked in.

"You've got a good man you're backing up here," a recomposed Mr. DeFranco told the former senator. He then walked out of his store and told the media, who had spilled out onto the sidewalk: "I want to be the first person to say, 'Congratulations to our senator.'"

The Barclayites cheered.

Meanwhile, Assemblyman Darrel J. Aubertine, Mr. Barclay's opponent, was across town at Shorty's Diner, asking patrons there to vote. The Democratic candidate said he hadn't gotten enough sleep, but the race was too important to stop now.

"You always feel that you want to make sure you left nothing undone," he said. Mr. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, had planned stops at a ham dinner, a bingo game and another of his "One of Us" rallies in St. Lawrence County.

"There is a camp that thought we had no chance. They said it was a Republican seat," he said. "I don't think there's too many people saying that now."

A Republican has represented Jefferson County in the state Senate for at least the last 110 years, a dominance that includes Mr. Barclay's father, H. Douglas, who served from 1965 to 1984.

Mr. Aubertine is no stranger to rewriting history, however. In 2002, he became the first Democratic state assemblyman from Jefferson County elected since Lewis W. Day of Sackets Harbor in 1910.

Besides Mr. Barclay's tour of small businesses, the Republican candidate visited a nuclear power plant in Oswego County and a state prison in Watertown as part of his 48-hour campaign blitz that started Sunday evening.

"We've taken it up about 20 notches," he said of the campaign's vigor.

The campaigns aren't the only things being dialed up in intensity today.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning, which goes into effect at 10 this morning.

Anthony M. Ansuini, a Buffalo-based meteorologist, said the heaviest snowfall in Oswego and Jefferson county will come in a 24-hour period between late afternoon Tuesday and Wednesday, with total accumulations expected to be 8 to 12 inches. Those near Lake Ontario's south shore should expect 10 to 14 inches, he said.

The southern part of St. Lawrence County, which is part of the 48th Senate District, is expected to receive 6 to 10 inches between 10 a.m. Tuesday and 4 p.m. Wednesday, he said.

High winds, gusting up to 30 miles per hour, will start after the polls close, the meteorologist said.

"We think a higher turnout will benefit us," said Mr. Barclay, R-Pulaski. "But if it is a snowy day, we'll be ready for it and make sure our supporters will be able to get to the polls."

Mr. Aubertine said he didn't think district voters would be dissuaded by bad weather.

"I think people will get out there and vote and do the right thing," he said.

In other campaign news:

■ Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mr. Barclay will appear on the Republican, Independence and Conservative lines. Mr. Aubertine will be on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines.

■ There were 3,836 absentee ballots mailed to potential voters in the 48th Senate District. That figure breaks down as follows: 1,556 in Oswego County; 1,540 in Jefferson County and 740 in St. Lawrence County.

■ The Advance News of Ogdensburg endorsed Mr. Aubertine, the candidate's first backing by a newspaper for the state Senate race.

The newspaper noted Mr. Aubertine's role in helping to secure a 30-year deal between the New York Power Authority and Alcoa, in which the aluminum manufacturer agrees to keep 900 jobs in St. Lawrence County.

"The residents of St. Lawrence County have come to know Darrel Aubertine and we know that his knowledge of the county makes him the best candidate to succeed Jim Wright in the state Senate," the editorial stated.

Mr. Barclay was endorsed by the Watertown Daily Times, the Syracuse Post-Standard, the Ogdensburg Journal, the Jefferson County Journal and the Empire State Farmer.

The Ogdensburg Journal and Advance News are owned by the Johnson Newspaper Corp., publisher of the Times.

■ Adams residents who live in voting Districts 3 and 4 will vote at the Adams Center Fire Hall, 18382 Route 177. Incorrect information was given in Monday's Times.