A congressional race in a mostly rural district of upstate New York is down to the wire, with Democratic businessman Scott Murphy leading Republican state legislator Jim Tedisco by a mere 65 votes out of more than 154,000 cast.
The race to replace Senator Kristen Gilibrand, who vacated the seat when New York Governor Patterson appointed her to the senate, now turns on the tally of more than 10,000 absentee and military ballots that remain to be counted. The 10-county district includes large swaths of farmland and the suburbs of Albany, the state capital.
The national Democrats and Republicans have turned the election into a proxy on President Obama's performance in his roughly 70 days in office, particulary on his economic stimulus plans and the massive budget he proposed that dramatically increases spending on healthcare and other policy priorities. The Republicans have poured money into the race, promising that a Tedisco victory would launch a nation-wide Republican comeback. Obama endorsed Murphy.
