GOP wins last House race of 2020 after Democrat recognition



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“It’s time to close the book on this election and focus on building a better community and a more united country for our children,” he said in a statement, praising Tenney and pledging to make “the transition process as smooth as possible”.

The race was a prolonged fiasco that exposed the flaws in New York’s decentralized electoral system, which relies heavily on local electoral boards. After leading by some 28,000 votes on election night, Tenney’s advantage fell to just under 50 as postal votes surged.

The process turned into an utter disaster when several counties continued to discover boxes of un-counted missing ballots and lost track of disputed ballots that may have been mis-counted. The election law clearly states that ballots with objections must be clearly marked on the ballot – some counties used sticky notes that fell. In Oneida County, more than 2,000 voters were turned down because their applications were filed, but not processed by officials in time for election day.

Still, Brindisi called Tenney just hours after the state certified the election at noon Monday. He said he would drop his legal remedies and end his call for a manual recount of the more than 300,000 votes cast. Her team said the campaign did not plan to take further action, although they described the process as flawed.

“Unfortunately, this election and counting process has been riddled with errors, inconsistencies and systematic violations of federal and state election laws. My only disappointment is that the court did not see fit to give us a recount, ”he said. “Sadly, we may never know how many legal voters were turned down or the ballots were not counted due to the ineptitude of electoral councils, especially in Oneida County. I hope an authority steps in and investigates the massive voter deprivation that took place during this election.

An ongoing legal battle could have prolonged the race for months, adding to confusion and unrest for the more than 700,000 residents of the district who have not been represented in the House for more than a month since the end of the term. from Brindisi on January 3.

Tenney first won the seat in 2016, replacing the now late Republican Richard Hanna. Brindisi, a moderate Democrat, ousted Tenney in 2018, winning District President Donald Trump by 16 points in his first election.

The rematch was one of the most contested in the 2020 cycle and saw millions of external spending from both sides. The neighborhood sprawls across central New York City and includes the towns of Utica and Binghamton. Democrats will control the redistribution in the state and may attempt to create a seat more favorable to Brindisi, should he choose to run again.

Tenney’s victory brings the GOP to a net gain of a dozen seats in the last cycle. They are only five to recover the majority in 2022. Another positive point for the Republicans: Tenney is the 30th woman of the GOP elected in 2020; they started the cycle with just 13.

The 22nd district of New York was not the only one to have an ultra fine finish. An open house in Iowa was decided by just six votes, and losing Democratic candidate Rita Hart challenged now Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ victory on the House Administration Committee under the Federal Contested Elections Act.

This committee could choose to conduct its own recount to indicate who is the legitimate seat winner. The Republican National Congress Committee seized Brindisi’s decision and pressured Hart to drop her appeal.

“It’s time for Rita Hart to follow Anthony Brindisi’s lead,” said Mike Berg, an NRCC spokesperson, “admit she lost and let Congressman Miller Meeks focus on service. to residents of the Second Congressional District of Iowa. “

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