New York Rep. Marcus Molinaro refused to concede a contest called for his Democratic opponent Josh Riley late Tuesday night.
Mr. Molinaro, a Republican who represents the 19th District, announced Wednesday that he trails Mr. Riley by 3,500 votes and “there are over 12,000 absentee and affidavit ballots that have yet to be tallied.”
He said, “These ballots will decide the race and we have to be sure every legal vote is counted. Whatever the result ends up being, I will accept it and am beyond grateful to my family, friends and supporters.”
Mr. Molinaro promised to share updates as more information became available.
The election between Mr. Molinaro and Mr. Riley was called by The Associated Press at 1:20 a.m. with Mr. Riley leading Mr. Molinaro by 50.9% to 49.1%, with 95% of the votes tallied.
The election between the two candidates is a rematch, after the Republican won by less than 4,500 votes in 2022.
The district, which stretches from Ithaca to the Catskill Mountains, was rated as a “toss up” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report and both campaigns spent millions of dollars, making it the state’s most expensive this cycle.
Mr. Molinaro, a freshman GOP lawmaker, was among a handful of New York Republicans targeted by Democrats this cycle after having flipped several Democratic seats in 2022 and capturing a House majority.
Another New York congressional race that remains in limbo is New York’s 4th Congressional District, which is represented by Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito.
Democrat Laura Gillen, who leads Mr. D’Esposito by 1.8% of the vote, declared victory Tuesday night. However, Mr. D’Esposito has refused to concede the race, which has not been officially called by any news organization yet.
In 2022, Mr. D’Esposito defeated Ms. Gillen by less than 10,000 votes in the Long Island district, making the district one of the country’s most Democratic ones to have a GOP representative.
As a freshman lawmaker and former NYPD detective, Mr. D’Esposito raised more than $4.4 million against Ms. Gillen, who raised more than $6.1 million.
Mr. D‘Esposito, who ran on securing the border and law enforcement issues, had the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
In September, Mr. Trump rallied thousands of his supporters at Nassau Coliseum, where Mr. D’Esposito joined him.
“I want Donald Trump to make our economy stronger, I want Donald Trump to secure our border,” Mr. D’Esposito said at the rally.
However, the D’Esposito campaign was shaken up by a New York Times report that the congressman hired his mistress and his fiancee’s daughter to work in his district office, a potential violation of House ethics rules. Mr. D’Esposito has not denied the allegations.
During the campaign, Mr. D’Esposito said there was “nothing done that was not ethical.” Ms. Gillen responded, “The only reason he stopped there is because he got caught.”
Abortion was a key issue for Ms. Gillen’s campaign, and the former Hempstead council member believes the 2022 Supreme Court Dobbs’ decision that overturned Roe v. Wade was wrong.
“Abortion continues to be an issue and access to reproductive health continues to be an issue,” Ms. Gillen has said.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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