Two-term U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna has defeated tea party-backed challenger Claudia Tenney in the Republican congressional primary election in central New York.
The unofficial tally showed Hanna with 53 percent of the vote with 95 percent of the 22nd District's precincts reporting Tuesday evening.
The victory all but ensures another term for Hanna because Democrats didn't put up a candidate.
While Hanna is rated as a moderate in Congress, he had the endorsement of the National Rifle Association and most of the county committees in the district.
Tenney was endorsed by the state Conservative Party based on her votes in the Legislature, including opposition to the SAFE Act gun-control law championed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The district runs from Lake Ontario around Oswego through the Mohawk Valley to the Pennsylvania border around Binghamton.
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