Republican Concedes Tight New York House Race

Slaughter, left, is a New York Democrat. (CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Posted November 12, 2014 at 5:13pm

After an election night scare, Rep. Louise M. Slaughter of New York won a 15th term Wednesday when her Republican rival conceded the race.

The race was close — currently 869 votes — and officials tabulated ballots for almost a week after Election Day. Slaughter’s razor-slim margin over Republican Mark Assini shocked Democrats and Republicans — both of whom were surprised by the close race.

Assini conceded Wednesday, according to The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle . A Slaughter spokesman confirmed the concession to CQ Roll Call and added Assini called the congresswoman to congratulate her.

House Democrats have lost a net of 12 seats so far in last week’s elections. The Associated Press has yet to declare a winner in five House races, including Slaughter’s contest.

Other recent developments in uncalled races include:

Freshman Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., doubled her margin to more than 2,000 votes and released a statement declaring victory in the race. But Republican Jeff Gorell’s campaign showed no hint of concession in an earlier afternoon Facebook
post.
Rep. Ron Barber, D-Ariz., has a tougher track to re-election as he trails retired Air Force Col. Martha E. McSally, a Republican, by 133 votes. Arizona voters must present identification by Wednesday evening for provisional ballots to be counted. If the margin at 7 p.m. EST is fewer than 200 votes, the race goes into an automatic recount.