The final uncalled House race seems ever closer to having a winner, with former Rep. Claudia Tenney, a Republican, holding a 122-vote lead over Democratic Rep. Anthony Brindisi.
Tenney, who is vying to recapture the 22nd Congressional District she lost to Brindisi in 2018, has been volleying back and forth with him for nearly three months, in a race both sides are watching closely amid a narrowly divided House. The fight has played out across several counties in the central New York congressional district, preventing constituents from having representation in the House after the new Congress convened on Jan. 3.
The Tenney-Brindisi courtroom battle started with the New York Republican ahead on election night by 28,000 votes, only to have her massive lead dwindle down to a double-digit lead with the counting of absentee ballots. Brindisi only held the lead once, with a 14-ballot margin, until the count swung back again in Tenney’s favor.
Although the ballot tabulation deadline is not until Tuesday in Oswego County, Brindisi has pending legal challenges. Despite Tenney’s current lead, the New York Democrat said he will continue his legal battle.
“The margin in this case has been a moving target for nearly three months, but even now, with the margin as large as it has ever been, it is still infinitesimally small,” Brindisi’s campaign attorneys said in a court filing on Monday. Brindisi’s campaign asked Judge Scott DelConte for an audit that may end up in a recount of all 325,000 ballots cast.
DelConte, however, noted on Friday that the court cannot call for a new election or recount.
Democrats currently hold a narrow majority in the House, with 222 seats to 211 for Republicans. Along with the open New York 22nd Congressional District, a Louisiana seat is open after the death of Republican Rep.-elect Luke Letlow.
