(AP) Albany, N.Y. — The two candidates in a New York congressional race that focused on President Obama’s economic policies are separated by only 65 votes with all the precincts reporting and more than 150,000 votes counted.
Democrat Scott Murphy, 38, holds the slim lead over Republican Jim Tedisco, 58. The race will come down to roughly 10,000 absentee ballots, none of which were to be counted on election night, officials said.
The victor will replace Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton when she became secretary of State.
One thing to remember about this race is that it’s really been a Republican stronghold, where registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats by 70,000. Republicans held the seat for years until scandal-plagued Rep. John Sweeney got booted in the Democrative wave of 2006.
For Tedisco to lose or even come close to losing when he was up by 20+ points and the national GOP poured massive sums into the race, well, that’s a shocker.
Posted by Clark | 01. Apr, 2009, 6:07 AM