By Associated Press
Buffalo, NY – The campaign to succeed retiring Jack Quinn in the U.S. House of Representatives is going into overtime.
Democratic state Assemblyman Brian Higgins declared victory early Wednesday in the high-spending race, saying he held a roughly 4,600-vote lead over Republican Nancy Naples.
But Naples had not conceded. GOP officials, meanwhile, got a court order to impound the ballots, effectively stopping the absentee count midway through. The challenge could delay the paper ballot count until Nov. 15, Higgins campaign spokeswoman Suzanne Anziska said Wednesday morning.
There were up to 8,000 absentee ballots yet to count in Erie and Chautauqua counties, according to Ralph Mohr, a Republican elections commissioner at the Erie County Board of Elections.
The Naples campaign could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. But Anziska said they were comfortable enough with their margin by the wee hours of Wednesday morning to declare victory.
"This was a hard-fought election and I am gratified to have come out on top," Higgins said in a prepared statement.
Erie County Democratic Election Commissioner Larry Adamczyk said counting of the absentee ballots was suspended about midnight after the Board of Elections learned a court order to impound them appeared imminent. A hearing on the election case was set for Thursday morning.
Erie County had received more than 10,000 absentee ballots as of Tuesday. Mohr said about half had been counted before the restraining order.
Chautauqua County had about 3,400 absentee ballots.
Quinn's surprise departure from the 27th District attracted attention well beyond the boundaries of western New York where he served for six terms, with both national parties sending money and staff to flood the airwaves with a series of mostly negative ads.
Higgins, 45, leaned heavily on his legislative experience and working-class roots while highlighting pocketbook issues like raising the minimum wage and tax relief for the middle class.
The strategy paid off with the endorsement of more than two dozen unions.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Federation of Independent Businesses were among those favoring Naples. The Erie County comptroller and former Wall Street executive stressed a reputation for independence while promising to help small businesses and to pick up where Quinn left off in delivering money for infrastructure.
Naples, 56, painted Higgins as part of a dysfunctional state government while Higgins portrayed Naples as walking lockstep with President Bush.