Finally, Some Good News!
Republican Randy Altschuler conceded to Rep. Tim Bishop Wednesday morning, ending the last unresolved Congressional race in the nation.
Altschuler, a St. James businessman who poured $2.8 million of his own money into the race, congratulated Bishop (D-Southampton) and said he would not seek a full hand recount of the nearly 200,000 ballots cast.
Altschuler trailed Bishop by at least 263 votes with less than 1,000 uncounted absentee ballots.
On a day like this, this news makes me absurdly happy.
To be honest, I really wanted a recount. There were many complaints of irregularities and a hand recount would be a good way to test the integrity and accuracy of the new op-scan machines.
However, Altschuler rejected the idea of a recount as too costly. In fact, though, the absentee ballot count was not going his way.
"We knew that as of yesterday we had reached the point where our lead was larger than the number of outstanding challenges we had," Bishop spokesman Jon Schneider said. "Given the ups and downs of this election, we're happy to take a win however we can get it."
Bishop, a former Southampton College administrator, will serve his fifth term in Congress.
We can probably expect to see Altschuler again in the future, but for now we can celebrate Bishop's victory. Long Islanders can breathe easy knowing they have a seasoned representative returning to Congress to defend the people from ill-begotten tax deals, among other things.
Sorry for the short diary--I just needed to share this!