Republican Tenney's narrow win certified in US House race

New York state elections officials certified Republican Claudia Tenney’s razor-thin victory over U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi, more than three months after Election Day

Election 2020-House-New York (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

New York state elections officials certified Republican Claudia Tenney's razor-thin victory over U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi on Monday, more than three months after Election Day.

The certification came after a state judge ruled that Tenney won the race for central New York’s 22nd Congressional District by 109 votes in the nation’s last undecided congressional race. Judge Scott DelConte's decision Friday effectively cleared the way for Tenney to be sworn in, barring emergency intervention by a state appeals court.

DelConte’s directed New York to certify results immediately. The Board of Canvassers of the state Board of Elections approved the results Monday in less than two minutes.

There was no immediate comment from the Tenney or Brindisi campaigns.

Tenney had been the district’s representative for one term, until she was defeated by Brindisi, a Democrat, in 2018.

DelConte’s ruling came after he spent three months reviewing ballot challenges and trying to fix a series of problems with vote tabulations. Tallies shifted as county election officials counted a flood of absentee ballots and courts weighed in on which challenged ballots could be counted.

DelConte rejected an argument by Brindisi’s lawyers that certification of the election results should be delayed until an appeals court had a chance to review the case. The judge said that even if the results end up changing after any litigation, New York could simply amend its certification.

The judge said only the U.S. House can order a new election or recount at this point. DelConte said Brindisi can still challenge the election in the House and potentially unseat Tenney.

Democrats control the U.S. House with 221 seats, while Republicans have 211 seats.