20th HOUSE RACE TOO CLOSE TO CALL

I’ve been shuttling back and forth between Dem and GOP HQs in Saratoga Springs. Both candidates, Jim Tedisco (R-Schenectady) and Scott Murphy (D-Glens Falls) are declaring cautious victory.

Murphy currently leads by fewer than fifty votes. It’s a remarkable accomplishment for a political newcomer who had zero name recognition two months ago.

Tedisco is telling supporters that absentee ballots — including military votes from overseas — will close the gap and send him to Washington DC.

Police seized ballot boxes across the district tonight and litigation is likely as this contest enters the ‘hanging chad’ phase.

What’s certain is that a district that was once bedrock Republican is now a toss-up, maybe even slightly blue-tilting.

Also clear is that the political texture of the North Country has changed dramatically over the last decade. Murphy’s campaign was buoyed by dramatic margins in Warren and Washington Counties, and a narrower victory in Essex County.

Tomorrow during regional news we’ll hear from Murphy, Tedisco, Governor Paterson and Democrat Party chair June O’Neil from St. Lawrence County.