Brindisi’s Lead Expands After Broome, Herkimer County Absentee Count

Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi is clearly leading the absentee ballot count as he has extended his lead even further over Rep. Claudia Tenney after absentee counts were completed in Herkimer and Broome Counties, according to officials.

On Friday afternoon, Broome and Herkimer reported their count of absentee ballots and both came in favor of Brindisi.  In Broome County, where Brindisi won overwhelmingly on election night, Brindisi won the absentee count by a margin of 2,959 to 1,640, a net gain of 1,319 votes.  Meanwhile, in Herkimer County, Brindisi has upset Tenney in the absentee count by a margin of 80 votes, 659 to 579, according to county officials. Tenney won Herkimer County on election night by some 2000 votes, one of her biggest victories. Campaign strategists told WIBX that Herkimer was one of the counties Tenney desperately needed to win through absentees in order to pick up votes and find a pathway to victory. The fact that Brindisi gained more votes than Tenney in Herkimer is definitely a blow to her re-election bid, strategists say.

Oswego County, which Tenney won handily on election night, also reported their absentee count with Tenney receiving 298 votes to Brindisi's 218, an 80 vote net gain for the Congresswoman. Chenango, Tioga an Oneida County still have not reported their tallies. Officials expect those counts to be completed before Thanksgiving, that includes just over 6000 additional votes. Additionally, Military ballots in all counties must still be added to the final count. The deadline for those ballots to arrive at the local Boards of Election is this Monday. Strategists say Tenney would need to perform by a better than 80 percent margin on the remaining votes in order to regain the lead.

Currently, with the three county's absentee count, Brindisi now leads Tenney by more than 3,200 votes, up from the 1,293 vote lead he held following election night.