NY 23rd Congressional District Race Not Over
At least it's still undecided. On election night, Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, down by 5000 
votes with 93% of the precincts reporting, conceded the race to democrat Bill Owens. When all of the precincts reported, he was only down by around 3000 votes with over 10,000 absentee ballots yet to be counted.
That didn't stop Speaker Pelosi from swearing in Owens, though.
According to John Conklin, communications director for the state Board of Elections, they had sent a letter to the House Clerk which stated that, "no winner had been determined in the 23rd District, and therefore the state had not certified the election." However since Owens was leading, and Hoffman wasn't contesting, he could legally be sworn in as a member of Congress, even though it still remains unofficial.
Whether Hoffman actually stands a chance after all the votes are counted is merely speculative at this point, but if it's close...look for the loser to contest the results.
Permalink | tagged Bill Owens, Doug Hoffman 
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Reader Comments (4)
Unless it puts him over the top I'm betting he won't.
Imagine if the race results were switched and Hoffman had won? An army of lib lawyers fresh from Minnesota and schooled in the art of "finding" votes would be hard at it putting a minority on T.V. crying that his/her vote was not being counted and they were being disenfranchised.
I expect a dem counter somewhere to "find" a previously un-opened box of votes with ten or twelve thousand votes for Owens in a previously heavy Republican district. I mea it seems so plausible. Haven't we been here before?
Okay, but there are 10,000 absentee votes right? Most of them were cast and mailed probably before Scazzofava dropped out of the races and Hoffman was down 3000 votes which means that Hoffman would have to garner 3000 more absentee votes than Scazzafava and Owens combined. Chances of that, slim to none.
Which is why Hoffman isn't contesting the election results and Pelosi was perfectly correct in swearing in Owens.
For New Yorkers I am surprised you fail to follow the admonition of one of your own namely the unforgetable Yogi Berra of the NY Yankees. He said of a game and to paraphrase any important event, "It ain't over til its over." or "It ain't over til the fat lady sings." What peotic justice it would be to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat for Doug Hoffman an "everyman" is there was one. And to survive the knife in the back from Ms. Dede who thinks only of herself and how to survive politically will be sweet comeupence for her despicable behavior. Sometimes these folks just love the power trip. So let's wait, and be Obama like and perhaps "HOPE for CHANGE". I hope someone kept a paper with the headline "Owens Wins" so Doug could be Truman like in another photo of counting your chickens before they hatch is not a good policy.