A failed upstate New York Assembly candidate turned himself in to police after he was caught on camera allegedly stealing his rival’s campaign flyer out of a resident’s mailbox and swapping it with his own.
Republican Joseph Mastroianni was charged with petit larceny for the switch-up after surrendering to Socita Village police on Thursday.
Mastroianni, who is a member of the Rotterdam Town Board, had launched a bid for the 111th Assembly District — covering Schenectady and Montgomery counties — against Democrat and six-term incumbent Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara.
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Despite his alleged efforts to replace Santabarbara’s messaging with his own, Mastroianni lost to the incumbent on Tuesday.
The candidate was filmed on Oct. 17 by a Ring doorbell camera removing a political mailer from the mailbox of a potential voter, stuffing it into his pocket and placing one of his campaign flyers into the same mailbox.