Democrat House Rep. Anthony Brindisi takes Lead in New York Race as Affidavit Ballots are Being Counted

According to Patrick Lohmann, a reporter for Syracuse.com who has been documenting the New York 22nd District race, House Rep. Anthony Brindisi has taken the lead over Republican Claudia Tenney by 14 votes in that race.

Just got updated numbers from #NY22. Brindisi has taken a minuscule lead. These numbers will change as elections staff and campaign reps continue going through affidavit ballots. The number of new votes are in parentheses:

Brindisi: 155,625 (+125)
Tenney: 155,611 (+92)

— Patrick Lohmann (@PatLohmann) December 23, 2020

That election is the last undecided House race in the nation this year and Tenney had held the lead from election night until around Thanksgiving when Brindisi had claimed a slim lead but then it went back to Tenney.

Lohmann later added a pair of tweets to the original one and said, “These are from 237 ballots added to the unofficial counts. County staff and campaign reps have gone through 847 ballots so far. There are about 950 left, according to testimony in court today. I’m hoping to get some more info soon.”

Apparently there has been some frustration with the speed of the count, which he noted in the second tweet where he said, “Another small update on Oneida County canvassing in #NY22. They’ve done 324 more ballots as of 1:20 p.m., 626 remaining. No word on how many will be added to vote count. But they want to stop at 3 p.m. again today, frustrating the judge: ‘When is this going to get done?'”

Another small update on Oneida County canvassing in #NY22. They’ve done 324 more ballots as of 1:20 p.m., 626 remaining. No word on how many will be added to vote count.

But they want to stop at 3 p.m. again today, frustrating the judge:

“When is this going to get done?”

— Patrick Lohmann (@PatLohmann) December 23, 2020

State Supreme Court Judge Scott DelConte had ordered the eight counties comprising the district to re-submit a small number of contested ballots for the court’s consideration earlier this month due to issues uncovered during court hearings in late November and early December.

It was reported yesterday that the race was separated by three to five votes, according to an update in court from one of Brindisi’s attorneys, although it was unclear who was in the lead.

Judge DelConte suggested Monday that a delay will mean the new Congress will likely convene in early January without a representative for the district.