Two Democratic members of the House Agriculture Committee, Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney and Antonio Delgado, claimed re-election as vote counting continued in New York State. And in two other undecided races, Democrats halved their opponents’ leads, thanks to absentee ballots.
Republican Claudia Tenney led Democratic Rep. Anthony Brindisi by 10,294 votes on Saturday, with at least 20,000 absentee ballots yet to be counted, said Syracuse.com. Tenney initially led by more than 28,000 votes in New York’s 22nd Congressional District. In a rematch, Republican David Valadao’s lead over Rep. T.J. Cox shrank to 2,300 votes, half of his earlier margin, said the Fresno Bee. There were hundreds of votes yet to be counted in California’s 21st Congressional District.
Maloney, seeking his fifth term, leads Republican challenger Chele Farley by 10,000 votes, or nearly 4 percentage points, in New York’s 18th Congressional District. “The Hudson Valley has once again spoken,” said Maloney in declaring victory, reported Patch.com. Delgado leads by 15,000 votes over Republican Kyle Van De Water. Like Maloney, Delgado claimed victory before absentee votes were counted in the 19th Congressional District, reported the Daily Freeman.
Two members of the committee, both Democrats, were defeated in the Nov. 3 elections, chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Xochitl Torres Small of New Mexico. There were 15 undecided House races as of Sunday, said the AP. So far, Democrats have won 219 seats and Republicans 203.