With roughly 9,033 votes left to count in the race for Congress from New York’s 22nd District, former Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney clung to a wafer-thin lead — 3,576 votes out of more than 300,000 cast — over Democrat Rep. Anthony Brindisi.
The race between Tenney and Brindisi is shaping up to be a repeat performance of their 2018 "cliffhanger," except that Brindisi led the then-congresswoman throughout the count and eventually eked out a win.
In this contest, conservative swashbuckler Tenney has consistently held the lead since the counting began on Nov. 3.
The absentee ballots, however, have since been helping Brindisi cut Tenney's election eve advantage of 28,422 votes to her present edge of 3,576.
"Brindisi would have to win at least 70% of the remaining 9,033 uncounted ballots to overtake Tenney," according to Syracuse.com political reporter Mark Weiner.
The bulk of the remaining votes — 4,885 absentee ballots — in the eight-county district are in Chenango County, which will begin its count late Wednesday.
Tenney, a spirited foe of Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo while serving as a state assemblywoman, was a vigorous backer of President Donald Trump while in Congress.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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