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Republican Buerkle Leads by 567 Votes in NY-25; Still No Concession From Maffei; UPDATE: Buerkle Campaign Says, ‘We Need to Allow the Process to Proceed’

Posted on | November 21, 2010 | 4 Comments

The incumbent Democrat appears to have been defeated, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard: 

Republican Ann Marie Buerkle holds a 567-vote lead over U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei in the 25th Congressional District race after Wayne County election officials released their unofficial tally of absentee votes today.
Buerkle added 269 votes to her lead after getting 790 votes to Maffei’s 521 in the absentee vote tally in Wayne County. Elections officials in Wayne County completed the tally today and posted the results on their Web site.
With those votes in, the total unofficial vote count for the entire district stands at 104,374 for Buerkle and 103,807 for Maffei, who is seeking his second term in Congress.
Abby Gardner, a spokeswoman for Maffei, said the campaign had no immediate comment on the Wayne County results.

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports that the total number of “challenged” ballots is not enough for Maffei to make up the difference. The Lonely Conservative states the obvious:

It’s time for Dan Maffei to concede already. It’s over. Ann Marie Buerkle will be the next representative from NY25. There’s nothing left for him to cling to.

Remember that a victory for Buerkle would make history.

UPDATE: Tim Sahd of National Journal explains why Maffei is unlikely to overturn Buerkle’s win:

Attorneys will head to court early this week to argue over whether a handful of disputed absentee ballots should be counted. But a Onondaga County elections official noted that Maffei’s campaign was the one that objected to most of those disputed ballots, meaning that any count would likely only boost Buerkle’s lead.
Maffei has indicated he may ask for a recount, but Democrats should not put too much hope in that process. In several other House contests this year, recounts have changed the final result by just a handful of votes; certainly not enough to overturn the certified result.

UPDATE II: Statement from the Buerkle campaign:

“We are pleased with the numbers released by Wayne County today. There is another court hearing set for Tuesday morning, and we will wait to hear Judge DeJoseph’s determination now that all absentee ballots in New York’s 25th Congressional District have been counted. While we remain confident that Ann Marie Buerkle will emerge the victor, we need to allow the process to proceed as set forth in the original court proceedings initiated by the Maffei campaign.”

Category: Ann Marie Buerkle, Congress, Election, New York, The Lonely Conservative

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