NY-20: Early spin wars

The fact that a winner has yet to be declared in the special election in upstate New York hasn’t stopped the parties from trying to spin the results.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Democrat Scott Murphy leads Republican Jim Tedisco by 59 votes. Since there are still thousands of absentee ballots to be counted, the official results may not be known for weeks.

National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Pete Sessions released an interesting statement that appears to both vow a legal contest over the results and say that Republicans have an advantage among the uncounted absentee ballots.

As the latest vote totals reflect, there still remain thousands of absentee and military ballots that have to be counted. Rest assured that Republicans will ensure that the integrity of the election is protected and every vote is counted. As it stands now, there is a Republican advantage in the number of absentee and military ballots that have been returned,” Session said. “With that being said, Jim Tedisco has closed the gap in a district that has come to exemplify Democratic dominance in the Northeast in recent elections.”

Similarly, the Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said “this race is far from over” in a release.

“We are confident that the Republican advantage in these absentee and military ballots can put Jim Tedisco over the top, and the Republican Party will do everything in its power to make sure all lawful votes are counted,” Steele said. “We are proud of Jim Tedisco and his campaign. Together, and in partnership with the Tedisco campaign, the New York Republican Party, the Republican National Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee went toe-to-toe with the Obama Democratic machine that looked invincible in the Northeast just a few months ago and showed that our party can and will be competitive in areas of the country where our party hasn’t won recently.
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