Former Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney’s campaign says she took back the lead from incumbent Rep. Anthony Brindisi after 95% of the ballots in Oneida County were tabulated in New York’s still-contested 22nd Congressional District.
Over 50 days have passed since Election Day, and the winner has yet to be determined since both campaigns went to court after thousands of affidavit ballots surfaced that massively cut into Tenney’s initial lead of over 28,000 votes. This left the lead switching back and forth, as county boards of elections canvassed disputed ballots for nearly two months.
Brindisi previously had a 14-vote lead over Tenney after several hundred affidavit ballots from Oneida County were counted earlier this week, but, according to a source from the Tenney campaign, the New York Republican now leads by 32 votes with around 100 ballots left to be canvassed.
“When they started [counting] the suburbs on Wednesday, we netted nine and took the lead today,” a Tenney spokesman told the Washington Examiner, adding that the rural and suburban tabulations affected the lead change and Brindisi was previously ahead due to Oneida County’s Board of Election starting its count with Utica and Rome, two urban areas where the New York Democrat is heavily favored.
State Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte, the judge who is overseeing the dispute, told both campaigns last week he is waiting to rule on disputed ballots until all the counties’ vote counts are updated. Oneida County is expected to finish up its tabulation on Tuesday afternoon.
