Nine Open House Races Prevent Final Tally

A week after the elections, nine races in the House of Representatives are still too close to call:

NY-01: Democratic incumbent Tim Bishop led by approximately 3,500 votes on election night, and many called the race, but a subsequent recanvassing shifted the momentum to Republican Randy Altschuler, who now leads by 392 votes. Within the next week, the race will be determined by about 9,000 absentee and military ballots which both campaigns are studying now. 

NY-25: Syracuse and suburban Rochester were narrowly split on their candidate. Incumbent Democrat Dan Maffei trails Republican Ann Marie Buerkle by 684 votes. A recent recanvassing resulted in both candidates losing votes, but Maffei's total was marginalized more. The campaigns are now counting 12,000 absentee ballots. 

TX-27: In Texas, Republican Blake Fahrenhold is  up by 8/10 of a point, or 800 votes, against Solomon Ortiz, the Democrat.

IL-08: In Illinois, the Republican, Joe Walsh is beating Democrat Melissa Bean by less than 450 votes and this will come down to the absentee ballots as well.

CA-20: Republican Andy Vidak is besting Democrat Jim Costa by a score of 50.8% to 49.2%, which amounts to about 1,000 votes.

CA-11: Democrat Jerry McNerney has a less than 400-vote lead over Republican challenger David Harmer, which is obviously, too close to call.

WA-2: With 95.3% reporting, the Democrat, Rick Larsen has a 4,000 vote lead over Republican John Koster. This is still close, but appears that it will go blue.

KY-06: Democrat Ben Chandler has an exact 600-vote lead over Republican Andy Barr in the blue grass state.

VA-11: The Democrat Gerry Connolly has about a 1,000 vote-lead over Republican challenger Keith Fimian in a northern Virginia territory.

So, it looks as if the GOP is poised to take about five more seats, bringing their total to 65 if the absentee votes lean conservatively, as they generally have in the past. The crazy thing? The two recounts underway in New York State, where the GOP has already plucked 5, could make New York the state in which the GOP nets the most House seats this cycle! As it now stands, New York is currently tied with Pennsylvania and Ohio at five seats apiece. If Altschuler or Buerkle win their race, New York will have lead the House count!