The incumbent in New York’s 18th Congressional District has declared victory, but his opponent is not conceding. The results in the rematch portray an even tighter race than in 2012.
Democratic Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney declared victory shortly before midnight Election night.
“Across four counties and scores of communities large and small and firehouses and church basements, once more the people have spoken, the campaign is over and we have won this race.”
His challenger, Republican Nan Hayworth, had not conceded late Wednesday morning. She spoke to supporters Tuesday night, saying the race is too close to call.
“I wish I could stand here tonight and tell you we’ve got a big win going on. We do no not right now have a big win going on, not right now,” Hayworth said. “Mr. Maloney currently leads us by just over 1 percent of total votes cast, and I’ve lost my notes here, but basically if you back out the Village of Kiryas Joel, we would be ahead by three points. So we have absentee ballots still coming in. We do not have all the votes counted obviously. There is still fluidity in this situation and we are going to keep fighting on.”
That was Hayworth speaking in a Times Herald-Record video. Again, Maloney.
“And I want to reach out my hand to the other side,” Maloney said. “They’re going to dispute the outcome of this election; I wish they wouldn’t because it may be close but this result is clear. And the only thing I’m certain is whether we will work together, when I’m in Congress.”
After the speeches, the results grew slightly more positive for Maloney overnight. The spread widened by an additional 1,046 votes, giving him just shy of a 1.5 percent lead. There was a similarity to election night 2012, when Maloney declared victory and Hayworth did not immediately concede, though in 2012, Maloney garnered nearly 52 percent of the vote and Hayworth, 48 percent. Maloney reiterates his certainty this time around.
“Some of us remember this from two years ago,” Maloney said. “And then as now the result is close but it’s clear. We have won this race.”
He adds.
“So again, we fought this campaign hard, you know it, we fought this campaign hard,” said Maloney. “And we entered this campaign as Democrats and Republicans as we always do, but as I said two years ago, I hope we will end it as Americans.”
The combative race was predicted to be close, with the likelihood of an uncertain outcome election night. The latest unofficial results as of the time of this broadcast show Maloney with 84,415 votes and Hayworth with 81,625, a difference of 2,790 votes. Third party candidate Scott Smith picked up more than 4,000 votes.
