Hoffman May Have Admitted Loss in NY-23 Race Too Early… Gap Is Narrowing
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on November 12, 2009
Republicans and conservatives, remember: it ain’t over ’til it’s over. ‘Til the last vote is counted. ‘Til the fat lady sings (opera term, not a derogatory slam against overweight women). Never quit, never give up until the end.
UPDATE, NOVEMBER 16, 2009:
Nice Deb: Doug Hoffman Announces He’s “Un-Conceding” NY-23 Race On Glenn Beck Show
Did Doug Hoffman concede the NY-23 race too early based on faulty, incomplete information?
The hot and heavy NY-23 race against conservative Hoffman and Democrat Bill Owens is revealing some troubling information.
Troubling for Nancy Pelosi and her health care bill.
Absentee votes have not all been tabulated from the NY-23 special election. There were reported glitches with at least one voting machine.
And now, the gap between Hoffman and Owens is reportedly narrowing. Which has the potential, although still slim at this point, of making the hastily voted-upon PelosiCare/ObamaCare bill to be contested.
From Post-Standard, Syracuse News: Recanvassing shows NY-23 race tightens even as Rep. Bill Owens is sworn into House seat:
Washington — Conservative Doug Hoffman conceded the race in the 23rd Congressional District last week after receiving two pieces of grim news for his campaign: He was down 5,335 votes with 93 percent of the vote counted on election night, and he had barely won his stronghold in Oswego County.
As it turns out, neither was true.
But Hoffman’s concession — based on snafus in Oswego County and elsewhere that left his vote undercounted — set off a chain of events that echoed all the way to Washington, D.C., and helped secure passage of a historic health care reform bill.
Democratic Rep. Bill Owens was quickly sworn into office on Friday, a day before the rare weekend vote in the House of Representatives. His support sealed his party’s narrow victory on the health care legislation.
Now a recanvassing in the 11-county district shows that Owens’ lead has narrowed to 3,026 votes over Hoffman, 66,698 to 63,672, according to the latest unofficial results from the state Board of Elections.
In Oswego County, where Hoffman was reported to lead by only 500 votes with 93 percent of the vote counted election night, inspectors found Hoffman actually won by 1,748 votes — 12,748 to 11,000.
The new vote totals mean the race will be decided by absentee ballots, of which about 10,200 were distributed, said John Conklin, communications director for the state Board of Elections.
Under a new law in New York that extended deadlines, military and overseas ballots received by this coming Monday (and postmarked by Nov. 2) will be counted. Standard absentee ballots had to be returned this past Monday.
Conklin said the state sent a letter to the House Clerk last week explaining that no winner had been determined in the 23rd District, and therefore the state had not certified the election. But the letter noted that Owens still led by about 3,000 votes, and that the special election was not contested — two factors that legally allowed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to swear in Owens on Friday.
“We sent a letter to the clerk laying out the totals,” Conklin said. “The key is that Hoffman conceded, which means the race is not contested. However, all ballots will be counted, and if the result changes, Owens will have to be removed.”
Before Owens was sworn in Friday, Rep. John Garamendi, a Democrat who won a special election in California, was sworn in Thursday. The two gave Pelosi the votes she needed to reach a majority of 218 and pass the historic health care reform legislation in the House.
The bill passed 220-215 late Saturday with the support of only one Republican. The Republican, Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao of Louisiana, said he voted for the legislation only after seeing that Democrats had the 218 votes needed for passage.
Now Hoffman, who campaigned against the health care reform bill, is carefully watching as the 23rd District race tightens and he is left to wonder if he conceded too soon.
“I don’t know if we would have conceded on election night,” Rob Ryan, Hoffman’s campaign spokesman, said Wednesday while discussing the latest results of the recanvassing. “I’m someone who doesn’t like to look back. But would we have taken longer to make a decision on election night? Probably, if we knew it was only 3,000 votes making the difference.”
Ryan, while acknowledging that Hoffman’s chances of pulling off a come-from-behind victory are still remote, said the campaign is looking at its legal options.
Premature at this point to declare anything, but I’m going to keep my eye on this as it develops.
It ain’t over ’til it’s over. And until ALL the votes are counted in New York’s congressional district 23, it’s not over.
UPDATED, NOVEMBER 13, 2009:
Uh, oh… this sounds like it broke something important, like state rules or laws or provisions. You know, those pesky things that Democrats like to write volumes of in order to hobble Americans and their hard-earned money, but choose to disregard if they should inconveniently get in THEIR way. Like now.
This is looking none-too-good for Queen Pelosi and her precious health care bill. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer tyrant: from Gateway Pundit: Doug Hoffman on Cavuto: “Pelosi Swore In Bill Owens Before NY State Certified the Race” (Video)
Additional reading:
NRO: Is It Possible the Wrong Guy Was Sworn In on NY-23?
Gateway Pundit: Dem Bill Owens Takes 1 Hour to Break 4 Campaign Promises and House Democrats Will Vote to Take Over Nation’s Health Care System Today and Mark Levin Will Join Michelle Bachmann at Capital Steps Rally- Noon Thursday
Jumping in Pools: Scozzafava steals 5,565 votes from Doug Hoffman’s campaign.
Michelle Malkin: Liveblogging: The new Imperial Congress votes on Pelosicare; Update: Female Democrats turn House resolution process into circus and March on Washington: Stop the government health care takeover and Abortion remains the Obamacare sticking point…for House Dems
Free Republic: Owens Breaks 4 Campaign Promises in First Hour In Congress
Dr. David Janda, Big Government: Debate on PelosiCare: Crunch Time Tonight in DC
Lux Libertas: Congressmen breaks four promises in first hour in Congress
The Reaganite Republican: Giving It to ‘em with Both Barrels
Fox News: Republicans Rally Resistance to Health Care Bill, as House Vote Nears
Frugal Café Blog Zone: Clarion Call to Arms: Tea Party Anti-ObamaCare Alert: March on Washington This Thursday, Nov. 5 (video) and 2,000-Page Nightmare: Newest Version of ObamaCare Is Shocking, “Crown Jewel of Socialism” Will Ravage America (video)
Brian Darling, Big Government: Historic PelosiCare Debate Starts Right Now
Nice Deb: Video: Judge Napolitano Warns Michele Bachmann That Nancy Pelosi May “Make Things Difficult” For Folks Coming To DC Rally and Tea Party Alert: Anti-ObamaCare March On Washington This Thursday
Publius, Big Government: Pelosi’s Gift to Insurance Companies: Immunity from Lawsuits and Let Your Voice Be Heard on Health Care: A Message From Rep. Mike Pence and Pelosi Health Care Bill: The Worst Bill Ever
About the author
Great Post, first of all.
This is the bum rush that thug politicians desire.
I live in Ohio.
I guarantee that this state will go red in 2010.
We’re sick of liberals.
Pelosi’s comments to the reporter about jailing the folks that decide not to buy government health insurance should be placed on the internet.
He asked her 3 times, and she never answered his question.
The arrogance is taking them down.
Sorry I got off the thread, but, you know.
You’re so right. Pelosi is the perfect attack dog for the Democrats because she is so very arrogant and without compassion and is willing to do anything…. ANYTHING… to make what she wants to happen HAPPEN, damn whatever the majority of citizens of America want. No moral compass, no “let’s wait until all the facts have presented themselves.” She rushed through the Owens swearing-in so that she’d have him for her rushed-through PelosiCare vote. Do it fast, and maybe no one will notice, right?
She is a self-centered, self-righteous, statist opportunist who does not serve the American people, but serves only Queen Nancy Pelosi. As I told my sister once, I would never have Pelosi over for dinner because after she left, I’d have to run to the kitchen to see how much silverware she had stolen when I wasn’t looking.
Dems don’t even concede after they have formally lost. I think conservatives should take the same stance.
I know, I know, Rick… conservatives are just way too forthright and honest. Dang us for those liabilities. So naive of us.
We need to reevalute our current stance and also read the Democrats’ “Lying 101: Path to Success” handbook. Unless we REALLY-REALLY want to live in a third-world socialist dictatorship.
Fighting unfairly and lying about everything under the sun has worked better than it should have for the Democrat party… especially if you’re a Muslim extremist/terrorist.