Republican Congressman Marc Molinaro said he is not ready to concede to his Democratic challenger Josh Riley in the race for New York’s 19th congressional district.
The Associated Press called the race for Riley, who led by around 13,000 votes with 96 percent of the vote reporting on Wednesday morning.
By Wednesday afternoon, Riley’s lead was down to a little more than 3,500 votes with just under 98 percent reporting.
Molinaro said the difference is small enough that he will not concede at this point.
Molinaro told WBNG-TV that there are over 12,000 absentee and affidavit ballots that hadn’t been counted. He did say he would accept the final results.
Riley declared victory over Molinaro early Wednesday morning after the AP called the race.
In 2022, Molinaro beat Riley for the seat by just 4,495 votes. Riley conceded two days after Election Day.
