Tedisco Might Call It Quits Today

As much as some election lawyers would like the special election between Tedisco and Murphy to go on forever, the fact is the 20th district needs a Congressman fighting for them down in D.C. The election was nearly a month ago but the counting has continued. At first the two candidates were close, one ahead of the other and then behind depending on which counties had recanvassed. Yet as the absentee ballots were counted, it became clear that Murphy was winning a majority of them. With less than a thousand to go and Murphy up by 400, the end of the road is becoming increasingly clear for the candidate that was supposed to win this race in a landslide.

From Capital News 9:

A finish line could be in sight in the race for the 20th Congressional District. With the numbers not looking good for Republican Jim Tedisco, sources tell Capital News 9 that Tedisco could concede to Democrat Scott Murphy as soon as Friday afternoon.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Election Board workers open up ballots. Lawyers look for invalid marks that could void the vote. Commissioners from as far away as Essex and Delaware County are here as the campaigns review about 200 challenged ballots. "We will see what the numbers are. We have been charged with opening the valid ballots and that is what we are doing, opening the valid ballots," said James Walsh, Tedisco Campaign Lawyer.

The valid ballots are mostly opened and with so few left and Murphy's lead bigger than ever, Tedisco would need to win three out of every four from now on to come back. The Republican has reportedly lost all hope yesterday and for some odd reason is waiting for the the judge to rule on residency requirements for voters (supposedly for future races) even though he isn't even an official resident of the district either.

Here's to the end of the line of this saga and the beginning of Murphy's term as Congressman of the 20th district!