NY-23: Owens Builds Up His Lead

As the NY-23 absentee ballot count moves into districts that were won by Rep. Bill Owens (D-N.Y.), his lead is growing over Conservative Party challenger Doug Hoffman. According to the Watertown Daily Times, Owens now leads by 3,096 votes with 3,105 absentee ballots left to count. That represents a boost to the Owens lead since yesterday. And it means that Hoffman would need to win 99.7 percent of the remaining absentee ballots to pull of an upset — a near impossibility.

UPDATE: Jude Seymour has updated numbers that basically end the race (again) for Hoffman–Owens leads by 3,105 votes with only 3,072 absentee ballots outstanding. And that’s with no absentee ballots from Essex, Franklin and St. Lawrence Counties, which went for Owens on election day.