ITHACA, N.Y. — With unofficial election results in, Max Della Pia has a strong lead in Tompkins County, but across the district, it is an extremely close race. As district results trickled in late Tuesday, at times Della Pia and Tracy Mitrano traded the lead position by a handful of votes.
As the last three districts came in late Tuesday, Della Pia was the winner by just 26 votes over Mitrano. Really, it’s too close to call until absentee ballots are counted.
The absentee and affidavit ballots will be counted at 1 p.m. Monday, according to Democratic Commissioner of Elections Stephen DeWitt. He said the Tompkins County Board of Elections currently have 661 absentee ballots in possession, but 1,275 were issued. The absentee ballots had to be postmarked on or before June 25, so they can still receive ballots before Monday.
Voters in New York’s 23rd District had to choose between five candidates — Linda Andrei, Max Della Pia, Ian Golden, Tracy Mitrano and Eddie Sundquist — to determine who will go up against incumbent Republican Tom Reed.
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In Tompkins County, the unofficial voter turnout as of 6 p.m. was about 21 percent.
The 23rd District includes Tompkins County, Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben and Yates county, as well as parts of Ontario, and Tioga counties.
By 11 p.m., all of the districts in Tompkins County had reported results. Max Della Pia received 3,383 votes. Tracy Mitrano received 2,876 votes, Ian Golden received 1,169 votes, Linda Andrei received 762 votes and Eddie Sundquist received 160.
Though Della Pia maintained a strong lead in Tompkins County, finishing about 500 votes ahead of Mitrano, the results coming in district by district were a refresh button thriller. Della Pia and Mitrano would inch by each other with less than 50 votes at times.
The polls closed at 9 p.m. Tuesday. Here’s a look at the unofficial district-wide results from the New York State Board of Elections.
By 11:36 p.m., the final districts from Tioga County reported results. Della Pia won by 26 votes. Here are the unofficial results from the New York State Board of Elections.
Linda Andrei — 3,330
Max Della Pia — 7,022
Ian Golden — 2,918
Tracy Mitrano — 6,996
Eddie Sundquist — 1,395