Posted on 11/17/2009 4:42:50 PM PST by deport
At the end of the day Tuesday, Owens still had a lead of 3,006 votes. The last unofficial returns reported by counties to the state Board of Elections on Nov. 5 had Owens leading by 3,026 votes, 66,698 to 63,672. Based on that lead Owens was sworn into Congress on Nov. 6.
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Why did Hoffman say on Beck he was down by 2,000 votes and this article says 3,006 votes? Huh?
Meh, let Owens have the seat for this congressional cycle. If the RNC learned a lesson from this it’s worth having to go against a semi-incumbent Dem in ‘10. He should be able to beat him then. That DeDe woman was a real lemon
Yep there will be a primary this time for 2010 on Sept. 14, 2010 in which all the GOPers can run heads up and decide it that way. Then the 3rd parties can pick their candidates and with the democrat the 23rd can have a real election.
Hoping for hope on this is pissing up a rope. Its over.
And this is not a lurker post. Its reality.
Hoffman needs to get some good PR skills.
First conceding, then unconceding... he looks silly.
There was never a chance that a third party candidate will make a 3000 plus votes deficit in absentee votes, considering that the Dems are also emphasising a lot on these absentee votes . A example is NY20 when the Dems stole the election through absentee votes.
You already conceded Hoffman.
You lose. Even if you win the vote at this point, you lose.
Maybe next time you won’t give up so easily.
conceding does not equate with losing. if he wins the vote, he wins the seat. 20 votes aren’t going to do it, he needs over 2,000.......but win the vote win the seat.
This is all good news for Hoffman. This race is a cliffhanger. He is a political newcomer, barely ran a very abbreviated campaign. He is not polished, but very genuine to the voters. Scozzafava was totally exposed as a democrat at heart and this negatively exposes the local GOP leaders for the hacks they are. Owens wins and has hardly taken his seat and he already breaks 4 campaign promises including voting for Pelosi’s disastrous bill. Owens better rent, not buy in DC. The rematch is already starting and Hoffman has all the momentum on his side. A year from now this seat will be a takeover for the conservatives.
Hoffman has to win the GOP nomination or else run 3rd party again. Doheny and Maroun had over 50% of the County chair support but Scozza won on the switch of her bud. I’m not that sure Hoffman will be the favorite in the primary on Sept. 14, 2010. We’ll see but in any case I agree Owens ought to be on his way out.
Hoffman is a very courageous patriotic but he is a poor candidate.....may the pub party find their b*alls next time around and pick a strong conservative leaning candidate..
Many military people would have voted for the popular Dede because of the “R”, not having access to vital information about her.
Hoffman's 'miracle' not likely as votes counted
ABSENTEE BALLOTS: Hoffman gain modest; Scozzafava doing wellByTIMES STAFF WRITERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2009Conservative Party candidate Douglas L. Hoffman chipped away at Rep. William L. Owens's lead in the 23rd Congressional District race as a quarter of absentee ballots were tabulated Tuesday. But Republican Dierdre K. Scozzafava is far exceeding her showing on Election Day, making the Lake Placid accountant's chances of a "miracle" comeback almost impossible.
Mr. Hoffman added 814 absentees votes to his 65,787 at the ballot box, but still trails Mr. Owens by 2,959 votes. There are 5,570 absentee votes in eight of the 11 counties still left to be counted.
Mr. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, added 597 absentee votes Tuesday to his 68,963 on Election Day. Ms. Scozzafava, Gouverneur, added 438 absentee votes to her previous total of 6,893.
Ms. Scozzafava suspended her campaign three days before Election Day, driving down her totals at the ballot box. The late decision, however, appears not to have hurt her standing among absentee voters. The Republican assemblywoman has taken 23.7 percent of those votes so far.
Ms. Scozzafava's stronger showing among absentee voters appears to have negatively affected Mr. Owens the most. The Democrat took 48.7 percent of the vote on Election Day, but 32.3 percent of the absentee vote so far.
But Mr. Hoffman so far has been unable to capitalize, earning 44 percent of absentee votes after receiving 46.4 percent support on Election Day.
If the current distributions hold, Mr. Owens will win the race by more than 2,300 votes. He was leading unofficially on election night by 5,335 votes, although a districtwide recanvass before absentee votes were counted showed that lead to be actually 3,176 votes.
Mr. Hoffman told conservative radio host Glenn Beck on Monday that he was a "long shot" to win, but added: "I'm from Lake Placid, New York, and I worked on the 1980 Olympic games as their CFO. And we believe in miracles up here."
Elections boards have finished their absentee ballot counting in Hamilton, Madison and Oneida counties, all of which Mr. Hoffman carried on Election Day. Ms. Scozzafava took in the most absentee votes in Hamilton, while Mr. Owens grabbed the most in Madison and Mr. Hoffman attracted the most in Oneida.
A Watertown Daily Times reporter obtained partial results in Jefferson County, where 27 percent of absentee votes in the race had been counted. Ms. Scozzafava led Mr. Owens there by 17 votes and Mr. Hoffman by 19 votes. Mr. Hoffman won the county on Election Day.
County boards are required to report results to the state Board of Elections by Nov. 27, although most expect to finish counting by Monday.
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