With all 610 precincts counted in New York's 20th Congressional District, Democrat Scott Murphy is ahead by 65 votes. It's not over. According to The Albany Project:
One thing is clear, there will be no winner tonight given that there are about 5,900 absentee ballots out there.FireDogLake reported earlier today that the Republican, Jim Tedisco, has already gone to court:
While campaign lawyers often pre-file papers for simple vote protection, Tedisco’s motion goes much, much further. Inside this document (PDF) are several humdingers, including:The Republican will probably get Norm Coleman's lawyers.
On page 6: An order that whenever a poll-watcher challenges a voter that the elections clerks have to make a written record. (Unless or until that order is served at every polling place—and unless or until somebody notices that paragraph—it will be impossible to enforce.)
On Page 9: Plaintiffs seek a restraining order to prevent the certification of Murphy no matter how huge a win. (This paragraph was struck out by the court on the spot.)
So, no clear winner tonight.
I'll add one other thought that's been annoying me. Picking Kirsten Gillibrand to be the U.S. Senator was a dumb move by NY Governor David Paterson. It put a Democrat seat (in a Republican area) at risk. For what? A Senator who keeps flipping and flopping on core Democratic issues. A lot of time and money went into trying to save this seat for the Democrats and it never should have happened. Can't Democratic Governors think through the political implications of their moves? This election really never had to happen in the first place (and, yes, I know this is Monday morning quarterbacking, but it bugs me.) And, now, thanks to David Paterson's poor judgment, it's going to go on and on for weeks.
I'm hoping Scott Murphy pulls it out. And, looks like he will. Then, he'll join the Blue Dogs just like his predecessor, Kirsten Gillibrand.
