The special election in the 20th Congressional District is too close to call, and a winner may not be known for up to two weeks.
Republican James Tedisco and Democrat Scott Murphy battled to a near-draw Tuesday in their quest to succeed Kirsten Gillibrand as representative.
In unofficial results released Tuesday night by boards of election in the 10-county district, Murphy led Tedisco by just 59 votes, 77,344 to 77,285.
Still to be counted are thousands of absentee and military ballots. Typically those would be tallied by next week, but a U.S. District Court ruling issued last week extended the deadline for receiving overseas ballots to April 13.
The race, a six-week sprint, was hard-fought by both candidates. Tedisco, 58, state Assembly minority leader, was better known at the outset and led in polls, but Murphy, 39, had pulled slightly ahead in last week's Siena Research Institute poll.
Tedisco campaigned all night Monday, visiting night-shift workers and striving for last-minute converts. Both candidates toured the sprawling district, competing everywhere, efforts reflected in the results.
Tedisco won the machine count in both Delaware and Otsego counties by small margins.
The Otsego County Board of Elections reported that Tedisco received 1,052 votes to Murphy's 1,001 in the towns of Roseboom, Decatur, Worcester, Maryland, Westford, Milford, Middlefield, and the eastern portion of Cherry Valley.
Delaware County has 16 towns in the district, and voters there gave Tedisco 3,376 votes to Murphy's 3,344.
``And we still have 511 absentee ballots to count,'' Bill Campbell, Delaware County's Republican elections commissioner, said late Tuesday night.
According to the Albany Times-Union, the candidates split the counties in the district, each taking five. In unofficial tallies, Murphy won Columbia, Dutchess, Essex, Washington, and Warren counties, while Tedisco won Greene, Otsego, Delaware, Saratoga and Resselaer counties.
The special election was set up when Gov. David Paterson appointed Gillibrand to the U.S. Senate in January, creating the current vacancy.
Both candidates awaited results at hotels in Saratoga Springs Tuesday and could not be reached by telephone.
