Kleinhandler's Election Watch Party

York Kleinhandler is running for Repuplican nomination for Congress for District 17 against Anthony Mele, and on Tuesday night supporters stayed throughout the night at the Rockland County Republican Headquarters in New City for his Election Watch Party.

Laptops, phones and an iPad kept refreshing throughout the night. As of 2am last night, most had left, but Kleinhandler and about 10 supporters.

Kleinhandler's wife Jackie was there throughout most of the night.

"My husband was in Afghanistan last year. We talked about what he would do when he returned and he mentioned several things," she said adding that politics and getting a Master's degree were two of his many ideas. "He wrote an email saying he was a soldier and he wanted to make a difference and run. In February he came back and everything else is history."

Kleinhandler said his campaign has been going phenomenal and he has been going out everyday because of the size of the district.

"This is a very large district. I travel all over," Kleinhandler said. He added that the places he's been, there is a positive reaction from the voters toward him. From all this traveling, he also found a common concern: accessibility of his Republican rival Mele.

"It's a district-wide complaint that he is not accessible," he said. Kleinhandler is worried that if Mele makes it, he will continue to not be reachable by the public that he represents.

Kleinhandler sees this campaign as a job interview for the Congressional seat.

"I'm being interviewed by the public by campaigning. When you go for a job interview, you talk about your qualifications. For me, my issues are my qualifications," he said.

His issues span across topic of the environment and the economy to health care and education. His website details his specific stands in each issue. He also added that he is personally invested in the 17th district because he's lived 44 of his 49 years in this district.