The numbers in the NY-20 recount have been moving all over the place but the latest count shows a 49 vote lead for Democrat Scott Murphy.
The official state results show that Murphy has taken an eight-vote lead as of 4:30 p.m. ET yesterday, as absentee ballots begin to be counted. However, there is some more recent data that shows Murphy's lead is actually somewhat larger at the moment.
Columbia County has provided their latest numbers to TPM, showing Murphy picking up another 15 net votes, on a 99-42 margin, compared to the 55-13 in the state's current tally of absentees from here. In addition, the Albany Times Union reports that Murphy has picked up 26 votes, an 88-62 margin, in Essex County.
So as of right now, Scott Murphy leads by 49 votes -- though there are still plenty of ballots left to count.
I'm sure these numbers will change even before I have a chance to post this, but I do like the fact that Murphy seems to performing really well among absentees.
Now, as I'm sure you know thanks to Hudson's reports, the situation in Columbia County is getting dicier by the minute. It appears that there have been 141 paper ballots counted in Columbia County and 93 ballot challenges, the vast majority of those challenges coming from the Republicans. They are challenging unopened ballots mailed from NYC left and right. Why are they doing this? Because, in their own words, Columbia County is "Make or break" for them.
Forty-nine votes were challenged by campaign lawyers and six votes were rendered void Thursday. Ninety-three votes have been challenged in total. Information was not provided on how many challenges came from each campaign. A total of nine votes have been voided so far.
Washington attorney and former President Reagan White House counsel David Nolan has been acting as a volunteer attorney for the Tedisco campaign, and says though the numbers are currently going in Murphy's favor, the Democrat has not widened the gap enough in the county to pull out a victory in the entire 20th District.
"How I see it, is that Columbia County is make or break," Nolan said Thursday night. "I think we are over the top and have weathered the storm."
Nolan says the republicans have been making most of the challenges over the past two days and the majority have been related to ballots from people who are registered to vote in Columbia County but whose driver's licenses state that they live in New York City.
Saratoga County has yet to report anything and that's where the lion's share of paper ballots are, but it looks as if the real battle is in Columbia County where this race could very well be won or lost.
On the web: Protect NY-20.
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