Syracuse -- Political newcomer Matt Doheny clung to a narrow lead this morning of more than 600 votes over Doug Hoffman in a tightly-contested Republican primary for the 23rd Congressional District seat. With more than 95 percent of the vote in, the primary was likely to be decided by absentee ballots. The Associated Press called the race before midnight in favor of Doheny.
By 2:15 a.m, today, Doheny had not declared victory and Hoffman had not conceded the election.
“We’re very pleased with the trend that we have seen tonight,” said Alison Power, speaking for Doheny. “The one thing that is certain is that we will be pulling together and beating Bill Owens in November.” Hoffman's campaign insisted that the election was far from over, and planned to wait for the results of a recanvassing and the tabulation of absentee ballots.
“This race has turned into a real nail-biter and we plan to count every last vote,” Rob Ryan, Hoffman’s spokesman, said at 12:30 a.m. “In the end, we remain confident that Doug Hoffman will be victorious.” With at least eight of the 11 counties in the sprawling district reporting 100 percent returns, Doheny led Hoffman, 15,106 to 14,495. About 1,700 absentee ballots remained to be counted, according to Hoffman’s campaign.
Ryan noted that the recount was just as important as the absentee ballots, given what happened in the 23rd District special election last year. Hoffman was cheated of about 1,200 votes in the initial count in Oswego County due to a tabulation error.
By early this morning, Doheny, 40, an investment banker from Watertown, had a strong lead in the southwestern part of the district near Syracuse, which includes Oswego and Madison counties.
With 121 of 124 election districts reporting in Oswego County, Doheny led Hoffman by 54 percent (3,121 votes) to 46 percent (2,620). The county has one of the largest voter enrollments in the district. In Madison County, Doheny led 55 percent (1,870 votes) to 45 percent (1,548 votes) with 106 out of 110 districts reporting, according to unofficial results.
No matter what happens, Hoffman, an accountant from Saranac Lake, will still have the Conservative Party line in the November election.
If Doheny wins, it would set up another three-way race for the 23rd District seat, now occupied by U.S. Rep. Bill Owens, D-Plattsburgh.
Hoffman, 60, a lifelong Republican, ran on the Conservative Party line last year after losing the GOP nomination to Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava.
Hoffman maintained Scozzafava was too liberal because of her support for abortion rights and same- sex marriage.
Scozzafava, trailing at the polls, dropped out of the race on the Saturday before the election and endorsed Owens.
The result was an Owens victory by about 3,600 votes, marking the first time Republicans had lost the seat representing the heart of the North Country since 1857.
Doheny, a political newcomer, seized the momentum from Hoffman early in the campaign by capturing endorsements from the GOP committees or top leaders in all 11 counties in the district. The district includes all of Oswego and Madison Counties and portion of Oneida County.
Hoffman still had the backing of the Upstate New York Tea Party and several conservative groups based in Washington, D.C.
Owens said he was not concerned election night who would win the Republican nomination.
“It has no impact on how I would proceed,’ Owens said in an interview Tuesday. “We will continue to do what we did during the last election and while I was in office – address the concerns of the district.” Owens said he views the top priorities in the district as the creation of jobs, reducing the national debt and deficit, and increasing the price farmers receive for their milk.
“It’s all driven by what people talk to us about,” Owens said. “We’re going to focus on being optimistic versus pessimistic. If you follow the tone in the Republican primary locally and nationally, it tends to be negative.”
The freshman Democrat promised to run a clean campaign that focuses on the priorities of the district.
“We’re going to conduct an issues-based campaign,” Owens said. “It’s going to be one about how we’re going to solve problems.”
