It now appears that no clarity on the NY-23 Republican primary will come until next Tuesday at the earliest.\u00a0 That’s when all the absentee ballots will be opened and counted across the district.<\/p>\n
According to the Hoffman campaign at least 1,900 have been returned so far.<\/p>\n
Conservative Party chair Mike Long told the Watertown Daily Times<\/a> that he expects Doug Hoffman to remain in the race as a third-party candidate, but admits that he too hasn’t spoken with Hoffman since election night.<\/p>\n The party chairman said Mr. Hoffman likely won\u2019t ask for his advice, adding he hasn\u2019t talked to the candidate since the primary ended.<\/p>\n But Mr. Long said his candidate could win a three-way race among himself, Mr. Doheny and Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, despite trailing both in fundraising.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know what his resource is? People believe in him,\u201d Mr. Long said. \u201cThat\u2019s a pretty powerful resource.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n One wrinkle in this narrative is that Republican turnout in Franklin County — Hoffman’s political base — was really low.\u00a0 That’s according to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise<\/a>.<\/p>\n Normally, this kind of muddle wouldn’t be a big deal.\u00a0 In this case, every week counts, if Republicans (or Conservatives or tax partiers) want a real shot at Democrat Bill Owens.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in the NY-20 race between Republican Chris Gibson and Democrat Scott Murphy, there’s a bit of an ad war going on, according to the Glens Falls Post Star<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gibson’s camp claims that Murphy’s ads are misleading about the jobs picture, while Murphy’s team claims that attack ads running against him are being funded by a secretive group that wants to eliminate or “privatize” social security.<\/p>\n