Labels: 20th District , Hank Reardon , Murphy , Tedisco
A week ago (here comes the pat on the back), WAF brought to your attention the ongoing Congressional race in the 20th District of upstate New York, in what we determined would be the first referendum on the President's spending plans.
The national media jumped on two days later- props to us. Anyway, tonight is the night. Polls have just closed, and we should know who won within two hours.
For the past four days, the candidates have been in full GOTV (Get Out The Vote) mode. It has been about as crazy as anyone can remember in these parts. Yeah, there are some hicks in this district.
9:00 p.m. - Today, New York State Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R- Schenectady), trailing despite a heavy Republican enrollment in the district, resorted to sending out text messages reminding people to vote. Unfortunately, the district is drawn so strangely, that they ended up wasting who knows how much money telling people that could not vote, to vote.
Scott Murphy, leading in the polls, despite running a campaign that said simply, "I love Barack Obama and you should vote for me for that reason," gained the support of the President in recent days with an e-mail to potential voters.
9:07 p.m. - The local TV stations are all fired up, and presenting updates during commercial breaks, interrupting the Tuesday night lineup again. This new government really is not a fan of Tuesdays.
9:08 p.m. - One of my favorite poll questions in recent weeks was the following- "Who do you believe will win the 2oth District race." Tedisco had a 10 point lead. Yet he "trailed" in the polls by four points. Bueller? Bueller? What the hell does that mean?
9:09 p.m. - The live blog of one election race in the entire country is not the smartest tactic for WAF, but the point is, we care, and we love you. Now get commenting.
9:11 p.m. - Play That Funky Music White Boy. Ok, so they're both white, but I stopped on American Idol for a moment while searching for an update. That guy can sing.
9:15 p.m. - Fox- Barney Frank, CNN- Natalie Cole, MSNBC- Gitmo. WAF? Congressional Races. You decide where to get your news!
9:17 p.m. - There is just not much coverage of this going on. But hang in there, once 9:45 p.m. rolls around it should pick up a bit. In the meantime, did you know that Ozzy has a new show coming up on FOX. Ugh. Why?
9:19 p.m. - On the text message issue. I appreciate the GOP trying to jump into the 21st century, but honestly, that is just going to piss people off. We were already inundated with obnoxious television ads for the better part of a month, and now you're going to run up my cell phone bill by sending me a message and I can't even vote in the race. C'mon. There has to be a better way. But at least they're trying.
9:27 p.m. - Early results are coming in. Murphy with huge leads in Greene and Warren Counties. Tedisco with a small lead in Saratoga County. Greene and Saratoga are not surprising. Warren is. Could be ugly.
9:29 p.m. - With 15 percent of the vote in District wide, Murphy leads 50-49 percent, but that is with nearly half of Saratoga Country reporting, what should be a strong Tedisco vote.
9:32 p.m. - The woman from the local AFL-CIO is on. You'll never guess who they are rallying for.
9:36 p.m. - Talk of it coming down to absentees. Good times, if both National Committees become involved. Who wants to buy a race! I'm going out on a limb and saying we have a result by midnight.
9:40 p.m. - Muprhy has won Washington and Warren County (not a surprise, somewhat surprise, respectively), and Muprhy now holds a very slim lead with 33 percent of the entire district reporting. Tedisco needs a bigger showing from Saratoga Country if he is going to pull this off. With 25 percent of that district in, he holds a 57-43 lead. If that holds up throughout the entire country, he should win, as it contains the most Republican voters.
9:43 p.m. - With 41 percent in, Muprhy has now extended his lead to 1,000 votes. At 33 percent it was just 210.
9:47 p.m. - It's a swinging night. With 53 percent of the district now in, Tedisco holds the slim lead of approximately 800 votes. No idea what district just reported. Stay tuned.
9:50 p.m. - With 68 percent in (105,000 votes) the Tedisco lead is just 342 votes, and the percentages in Saratoga have shrunk to 55-45. Not a very good sign.
9:52 p.m. - Murphy takes Essex and Dutchess County as well. But like we said before, it's going to come down to Saratoga, which is only reporting 2/3 of its districts right now. Lead is up to 425, with 68.? in. A small update, but we're working for you!
9:55 p.m. - The best source of upstate local news on the web- http://www.timesunion.com/ - has crashed, good times. With 73 percent in, Tedisco holds a lead 787 votes.
9:58 p.m. - Tedisco has won Rensselaer County. Once a Republican stronghold, it has changed dramatically in the last few years. There are two counties left to report- Columbia, where Murphy is doing very well, and Saratoga, where Tedisco is trending well. With 77 percent reporting, Tedisco's lead is 1,300 votes (50-49 percent).
10:01 p.m. - With 80 percent in, Tedisco still maintains a 1,300 vote lead. It's close. Reallllll close.
10:04 p.m. - Looking at the numbers, I still think Tedisco may have a problem. Saratoga is now at 82 percent reporting. Columbia has many more votes to count. Fitting that in the land of the Spa, this is going to be a photo finish. 83 percent in district wide, Tedisco by 1,300 still.
10:06 p.m. - 84 percent, and the lead is still 1,300. That number not moving is a bit scary for the GOP. The amazing thing is that Tedisco has a 5,000 vote lead in Saratoga County. If it weren't the over-achieving rich people that need to do more for this country, and stop being selfish, this race would be over.
10:09 p.m. - With 85 percent in, it's down to 1,000. Not good.
10:12 p.m. - Murphy has officially taken the lead. Up 200 votes with 90 percent in. You could see that coming. Tedisco now has to hope there is a pocket of votes in Saratoga County for him.
10:14 p.m. - Down to 150 votes. Can you say close? Saratoga, Green, both going for Tedisco right now, and Essex going for Muprhy, are left. Saratoga is clearly the largest block of voters.
10:16 p.m. - And out of nowhere, Murphy now has a 1,600 vote lead. Looks like it came somewhere in Saratoga, which could be the death knell for Tedisco.
10:23 p.m. - Bad news for Tedisco- Down 1,400 with 92 percent reporting. Worse news- Saratoga is 99 percent in, and it looks as if it will finish at 53-46. Way back when, an hour ago, we said it needed to be at 57-43. As always, we know our shit.
10:26 p.m. - With 94 percent of the votes in, Muprhy is leading by 1,509 votes. It's not looking good for Jumpshot Jim.
10:28 p.m. - Don't call it a comeback! Tedisco pulls withint 209 votes with 95 percent in. The tally is 73,915 to 73,706. At least the country is on the same page.
10:30 p.m. - Are you ready for this? with 99 percent of the Districts reporting, Muprhy holds a lead of 177 votes. Wow. There are 10,000 absentees out there. So in other words, we're not going to know tonight. Ok, maybe we don't know our shit.
10:36 p.m. - 99 percent in and we are separated by 75 votes, Muprhy with the slight lead. Tedisco is speaking right now. "From now on, just call me, Landslide Tedisco!" That was pretty funny.
10:39 p.m. - Ok, 100 percent of the precincts have reported. The two candidates vying for the 2oth Congressional district are separated by 59 votes after more than 155,00o votes. Every vote really does count. Murphy has the small lead. Tedisco says he is going to win, I'm sure Muprhy will say the same. It's going to come down to the absentees, and we're sure plenty of court challenges. Needless to say, we'll be back with the updates.
Good night and God Bless!
The national media jumped on two days later- props to us. Anyway, tonight is the night. Polls have just closed, and we should know who won within two hours.
For the past four days, the candidates have been in full GOTV (Get Out The Vote) mode. It has been about as crazy as anyone can remember in these parts. Yeah, there are some hicks in this district.
9:00 p.m. - Today, New York State Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R- Schenectady), trailing despite a heavy Republican enrollment in the district, resorted to sending out text messages reminding people to vote. Unfortunately, the district is drawn so strangely, that they ended up wasting who knows how much money telling people that could not vote, to vote.
Scott Murphy, leading in the polls, despite running a campaign that said simply, "I love Barack Obama and you should vote for me for that reason," gained the support of the President in recent days with an e-mail to potential voters.
9:07 p.m. - The local TV stations are all fired up, and presenting updates during commercial breaks, interrupting the Tuesday night lineup again. This new government really is not a fan of Tuesdays.
9:08 p.m. - One of my favorite poll questions in recent weeks was the following- "Who do you believe will win the 2oth District race." Tedisco had a 10 point lead. Yet he "trailed" in the polls by four points. Bueller? Bueller? What the hell does that mean?
9:09 p.m. - The live blog of one election race in the entire country is not the smartest tactic for WAF, but the point is, we care, and we love you. Now get commenting.
9:11 p.m. - Play That Funky Music White Boy. Ok, so they're both white, but I stopped on American Idol for a moment while searching for an update. That guy can sing.
9:15 p.m. - Fox- Barney Frank, CNN- Natalie Cole, MSNBC- Gitmo. WAF? Congressional Races. You decide where to get your news!
9:17 p.m. - There is just not much coverage of this going on. But hang in there, once 9:45 p.m. rolls around it should pick up a bit. In the meantime, did you know that Ozzy has a new show coming up on FOX. Ugh. Why?
9:19 p.m. - On the text message issue. I appreciate the GOP trying to jump into the 21st century, but honestly, that is just going to piss people off. We were already inundated with obnoxious television ads for the better part of a month, and now you're going to run up my cell phone bill by sending me a message and I can't even vote in the race. C'mon. There has to be a better way. But at least they're trying.
9:27 p.m. - Early results are coming in. Murphy with huge leads in Greene and Warren Counties. Tedisco with a small lead in Saratoga County. Greene and Saratoga are not surprising. Warren is. Could be ugly.
9:29 p.m. - With 15 percent of the vote in District wide, Murphy leads 50-49 percent, but that is with nearly half of Saratoga Country reporting, what should be a strong Tedisco vote.
9:32 p.m. - The woman from the local AFL-CIO is on. You'll never guess who they are rallying for.
9:36 p.m. - Talk of it coming down to absentees. Good times, if both National Committees become involved. Who wants to buy a race! I'm going out on a limb and saying we have a result by midnight.
9:40 p.m. - Muprhy has won Washington and Warren County (not a surprise, somewhat surprise, respectively), and Muprhy now holds a very slim lead with 33 percent of the entire district reporting. Tedisco needs a bigger showing from Saratoga Country if he is going to pull this off. With 25 percent of that district in, he holds a 57-43 lead. If that holds up throughout the entire country, he should win, as it contains the most Republican voters.
9:43 p.m. - With 41 percent in, Muprhy has now extended his lead to 1,000 votes. At 33 percent it was just 210.
9:47 p.m. - It's a swinging night. With 53 percent of the district now in, Tedisco holds the slim lead of approximately 800 votes. No idea what district just reported. Stay tuned.
9:50 p.m. - With 68 percent in (105,000 votes) the Tedisco lead is just 342 votes, and the percentages in Saratoga have shrunk to 55-45. Not a very good sign.
9:52 p.m. - Murphy takes Essex and Dutchess County as well. But like we said before, it's going to come down to Saratoga, which is only reporting 2/3 of its districts right now. Lead is up to 425, with 68.? in. A small update, but we're working for you!
9:55 p.m. - The best source of upstate local news on the web- http://www.timesunion.com/ - has crashed, good times. With 73 percent in, Tedisco holds a lead 787 votes.
9:58 p.m. - Tedisco has won Rensselaer County. Once a Republican stronghold, it has changed dramatically in the last few years. There are two counties left to report- Columbia, where Murphy is doing very well, and Saratoga, where Tedisco is trending well. With 77 percent reporting, Tedisco's lead is 1,300 votes (50-49 percent).
10:01 p.m. - With 80 percent in, Tedisco still maintains a 1,300 vote lead. It's close. Reallllll close.
10:04 p.m. - Looking at the numbers, I still think Tedisco may have a problem. Saratoga is now at 82 percent reporting. Columbia has many more votes to count. Fitting that in the land of the Spa, this is going to be a photo finish. 83 percent in district wide, Tedisco by 1,300 still.
10:06 p.m. - 84 percent, and the lead is still 1,300. That number not moving is a bit scary for the GOP. The amazing thing is that Tedisco has a 5,000 vote lead in Saratoga County. If it weren't the over-achieving rich people that need to do more for this country, and stop being selfish, this race would be over.
10:09 p.m. - With 85 percent in, it's down to 1,000. Not good.
10:12 p.m. - Murphy has officially taken the lead. Up 200 votes with 90 percent in. You could see that coming. Tedisco now has to hope there is a pocket of votes in Saratoga County for him.
10:14 p.m. - Down to 150 votes. Can you say close? Saratoga, Green, both going for Tedisco right now, and Essex going for Muprhy, are left. Saratoga is clearly the largest block of voters.
10:16 p.m. - And out of nowhere, Murphy now has a 1,600 vote lead. Looks like it came somewhere in Saratoga, which could be the death knell for Tedisco.
10:23 p.m. - Bad news for Tedisco- Down 1,400 with 92 percent reporting. Worse news- Saratoga is 99 percent in, and it looks as if it will finish at 53-46. Way back when, an hour ago, we said it needed to be at 57-43. As always, we know our shit.
10:26 p.m. - With 94 percent of the votes in, Muprhy is leading by 1,509 votes. It's not looking good for Jumpshot Jim.
10:28 p.m. - Don't call it a comeback! Tedisco pulls withint 209 votes with 95 percent in. The tally is 73,915 to 73,706. At least the country is on the same page.
10:30 p.m. - Are you ready for this? with 99 percent of the Districts reporting, Muprhy holds a lead of 177 votes. Wow. There are 10,000 absentees out there. So in other words, we're not going to know tonight. Ok, maybe we don't know our shit.
10:36 p.m. - 99 percent in and we are separated by 75 votes, Muprhy with the slight lead. Tedisco is speaking right now. "From now on, just call me, Landslide Tedisco!" That was pretty funny.
10:39 p.m. - Ok, 100 percent of the precincts have reported. The two candidates vying for the 2oth Congressional district are separated by 59 votes after more than 155,00o votes. Every vote really does count. Murphy has the small lead. Tedisco says he is going to win, I'm sure Muprhy will say the same. It's going to come down to the absentees, and we're sure plenty of court challenges. Needless to say, we'll be back with the updates.
Good night and God Bless!
11:03 p.m. - Never mind, I'm back. Listening to Muprhy talk now. After eight minutes he has yet to mention that he has a lead of 59 votes with 10,000 absentees to be counted. So you ask, what has he talked about? Barack Obama. For ten minutes. All about the stimulus package. All about how the One is going to save the country with his economic policies. I swear to you, he's been speaking for ten minutes and has not uttered one word about how close this is. He is delivering a victory speech. And now the "Yes We Can" chants begin. I can't believe what I'm watching. These people are pathetic.
11:06 p.m. - "I am awed and humbled by the support we received tonight. The voters spoke loud and clear that they support Barack Obama and his attempts at saving our economy." What?!?! 155,000 votes. Separated by 59. And the people spoke loud and clear.
11:08 p.m. - "I also want to thank President Obama, and Vice-President Joe Biden. Who would've imagined 8 weeks ago that the President of the United States would've endorsed our campaign?" Uh, anyone?
11:10 p.m. - You should see the beards on some of these people behind him. Thanked Governor Paterson. No applause. Shocking. And now, "Thanks to the brothers and sisters in the labor movement. There has been such a tremendous amount of time and energy put in by our brothers and sisters. Fuck the rich." Everything there was accurate minus the final three words.
11:12 p.m. - 16 minutes in. Nothing about how close it is. I'm interested to see if he will thanks Tedisco for the race as the Republican did. "I want to thank the voters all over the 20th District. No one expected this many people to turn out and vote for a new guy. This is their victory, they turned what would've been a loss into a success." Are you kidding?
11:14 p.m. - I'm starting to think he won this thing by 30 points. I just can't believe what I am hearing. Or seeing. "I'm going to go to Washington and use common sense to work together with everyone else in Congress..." You should have started tonight, Scott. You're up 59. He's declaring victory. He just left the stage. And the media just said, "Neither party really celebrating tonight."
What? Dear lord.
11:06 p.m. - "I am awed and humbled by the support we received tonight. The voters spoke loud and clear that they support Barack Obama and his attempts at saving our economy." What?!?! 155,000 votes. Separated by 59. And the people spoke loud and clear.
11:08 p.m. - "I also want to thank President Obama, and Vice-President Joe Biden. Who would've imagined 8 weeks ago that the President of the United States would've endorsed our campaign?" Uh, anyone?
11:10 p.m. - You should see the beards on some of these people behind him. Thanked Governor Paterson. No applause. Shocking. And now, "Thanks to the brothers and sisters in the labor movement. There has been such a tremendous amount of time and energy put in by our brothers and sisters. Fuck the rich." Everything there was accurate minus the final three words.
11:12 p.m. - 16 minutes in. Nothing about how close it is. I'm interested to see if he will thanks Tedisco for the race as the Republican did. "I want to thank the voters all over the 20th District. No one expected this many people to turn out and vote for a new guy. This is their victory, they turned what would've been a loss into a success." Are you kidding?
11:14 p.m. - I'm starting to think he won this thing by 30 points. I just can't believe what I am hearing. Or seeing. "I'm going to go to Washington and use common sense to work together with everyone else in Congress..." You should have started tonight, Scott. You're up 59. He's declaring victory. He just left the stage. And the media just said, "Neither party really celebrating tonight."
What? Dear lord.
11:28 p.m. - Politico.com with an interesting update. Murphy has more than 200 relatives in the District that are registered Republicans, and each likely voted for him.
We shall be back in the coming days.
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