(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.

Congressman William Lacy Clay, Jr. (D-Mo.) will hold a House joint oversight hearing on hand-held devices meant to collect data for the 2010 US Census that were deemed faulty.

Recently the Secretary of Commerce called for a major change in the design of new hand-held, electronic census gathering technology partly because of failures in the equipment. Because of these flaws, the cost of the 2010 census may increase by $2.2 to $3 billion.

Clay has pushed the department on its failures in the Field Data Collection Automation Program, created for the devices. The hearing will take place Wednesday at 2 p.m. in Washington, D.C.

Reporters at Congressional Quarterly Online are taking a peak at some Missouri Republican strongholds that may be ripe for the picking by Democrat insurgents.

CQ singles out two prime House races in the sixth district, consisting of the rural northwest as well as portions of Kansas City and its suburbs, and the ninth featuring northeast Missouri and Columbia.

The sixth district race stars a four-term Republican incumbent Rep. Sam Graves fighting to stave off former Kansas City Mayor, Democrat opponent Kay Barnes. The fight for the ninth is a nonagon battle royal, featuring no less than five Republicans and four Democrats including current Republican Rep. John Hulshof who’s absconded away to run for governor, leaving his district exposed.

The GOPers are state Reps. Bob Onder and Danie Moore; Brock Olivo, a pro-footballer and Mizzou alum; and former state Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer. The Dems consist of state Rep. Judy Baker, county commissioner Lyndon Bode, Steve Gaw, the former state House Speaker, and Ken Jacob, who lost a Democratic primary for lieutenant governor in 2004.

Like with many Dem. versus GOP battles squaring up for the fall, fund-raising is the dog whistle of potential trouble-a-brewin’.

With more than $1 million raised and $743,000 cash on hand through the end of 2007, Barnes is among the best-funded candidates who are challenging incumbents of the opposite party. Republicans, though, are painting Barnes as a “big-city mayor” and touting Graves’ roots in rural northwestern Missouri. Graves is also well-funded, having reported $1.2 million in receipts and $868,000 cash on hand as of Dec. 31.

Hulshof waited until late January to announce his bid for governor, so most of the candidates to succeed him got off to a fairly late fundraising start. The only exception was Democrat Baker, who entered the race last year as a possible challenger to Hulshof and raised $103,000 by Dec. 31. Candidates in this and all other House races are due to file their next campaign finance reports to the Federal Election Commission by April 15 for activity through March 31.

CQ doesn’t like the Dems chances in other places in Missouri, ranking the Show-Me-State as a righty, hence singling out these districts as the Dems best chances in the GOP’s Fortress of Conservative Missourian Solitude.

Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay (D-St. Louis) today blasted House Republicans as they once again failed to join with the Democratic majority to override President Bush’s veto of the expanded State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The effort failed by just 15 votes.

“Today, President Bush and House Republicans stood between 3.8 million additional children who would be covered by SCHIP and the health care they need.,” said Congressman Clay. “Over 56,000 children of hardworking Missouri families will remain uninsured because the President and the Republican minority continue to refuse to cover them. That is indefensible, especially when the economy is teetering on the brink of a recession. One of the most irresponsible things we could do is to leave millions of children uninsured as their parents struggle with foreclosures, layoffs, and higher prices for gas, utilities and groceries. As a parent, I want every child in this country to grow up healthy, with insurance coverage that helps keep them well. There is no excuse for sustaining this veto, and we continue the struggle to cover every child in this nation.”

The legislation vetoed by the President provided a $35 billion expansion of the SCHIP program which would have provided health care coverage to 10 million American children. The existing SCHIP program was extended last December until March 2009. But without this legislation, 3.8 million additional low-income children of working families will not be covered under the program. In addition, state budget shortfalls and administrative rules from President Bush put children who are covered now in jeopardy of losing health care.

Democrat Mike Garman made his bid for the 2nd District Congressional seat official today. The office is currently held by Republican Todd Akin. Garman is the Vice Chairman of the St. Charles County Ambulance District, and he says his campaign will focus heavily on health care issues.

From the press release:

Mike currently holds elected office as Vice Chairman of the Saint Charles County Ambulance District and is the 6th District Director. The 6th District covers parts of Saint Peters and O’Fallon, as well as Lake Saint Louis, Wentzville and Foristell.

Healthcare will be a major issue for Garman’s campaign. With 19 years of experience in the field, Mike is acutely aware of the medical needs facing residents of his district and is an impressive advocate for patients. He noted recent changes in medical insurance that have placed an ever-increasing burden on the elderly and their families.

“Access to the prevention, treatment, and management of disease must be a right, not a privilege,” Garman said. “When I’m elected, I’ll make sure affordable healthcare is available to the good people of the 2nd Congressional District and everyone living in our nation.”

Mike is currently a Radiologic Technologist for Saint John’s Mercy and specializes in Urgent Care Diagnostic Imaging.