Free Republic

Republican Joe Sempolinski has been heralded as the projected winner in the special election for New York’s 23rd congressional district. With 97 percent reporting as of this writing, Sempolinski currently leads Democrat Max Della Pia by nearly 5,000 votes — 53.2 percent versus 46.7 percent. Though the district has been deemed a solid red one, election watcher Dave Wasserman said that the final margins will determine if the Republican Party had made gains or losses in the district.

Voters were awaiting late returns Tuesday night to determine whether Nicholas A. Langworthy or Carl P. Paladino emerges as the Republican candidate and the November favorite in the reconfigured 23rd Congressional District. Early totals could not point to a definitive winner in the district that spans seven counties, leading both campaigns to wait far beyond the 9 p.m. close of polls to identify the Republican nominee to face Democrat Max Della Pia – a retired Air Force officer – in the Nov. 8 general election. And because turnout for a rare August primary election was deemed light across the seven-county...