Phil Balestriere is not a man to let grass grow under his feet. Although he strongly supported Republican Bob Kolenberg’s bid for the state Senate and fully expected him to win, when asked pre-election if he’d run for Carlo Leone’s seat if the Democrat should win, Balestriere did not hesitate with an answer.

“Absolutely,” he said.

Leone did win. Voters elected him Tuesday to be their new state senator for the 27^th District. So Balestriere is gearing up, once again, for a run for the 148^th District Assembly seat Leone has held for the past eight years. After Leone takes office in the Senate, a special election will be held to fill the House vacancy.

Leone won a fifth term in the House in November. Balestriere, a tea party member, ran against him as the Republican Party candidate and finished second. Rolf Mauer of the Green Party was third.

“I do it because we need to balance the House. Government has too many Democrats ruling the roost,” said Balestriere about trying again to claim the 148^th District seat.

Meanwhile, Maurer, who ran in Tuesday’s election as a Green Party write-in candidate, said he also is leaning towards again entering a race to represent the 148^th District. “I’m probably going to see about running for it,” he said after polls closed Tuesday evening.

But Maurer wants to be on the ballot. He’s miffed that what he describes as a delay in processing paperwork prohibited his inclusion on the ballot Tuesday. He and Mike DeRosa, Green Party state co-chair, were scheduled to meet this week with an official from the Secretary of the State’s office about what they feel was a snub.

Have you ever thought of running for office? What would be your platform?