The tea has yet to come to a boil in New York's North Country. The latest count shows GOP backed Republican candidate Matt Doheny ahead of Tea Party favorite Doug Hoffman in the District 23 U.S. House Congressional race.
According to the Watertown Daily Times, Doheny is topping Hoffman by about 600 ballots. But there are still around 17-hundred uncounted absentee ballots -- well with the margin of victory -- that could tilt the race in Hoffman's direction.
That's why Hoffman refuses to concede. Nonetheless, the Associated Press has projected that his opponent, a 40-year old investment banker from Watertown, NY, is the winner in Tuesday's balloting.
Indeed, if that's the case, it sets the stage for a three-way race for the seat in November. Hoffman has threatened that if Tuesday's vote doesn't tip his way, he's still planning on running in November.
According to a North Country Public Radio blogger, Brian Mann, the Upstate New York Tea Party will meet on Wednesday evening to talk about who they will support this fall. Mann quotes a statement he received from UNYTEA leader Mark Barie:
"I am very disappointed with the way in which the Hoffman campaign was conducted. It was unorganized, it lacked focus, and it failed to take advantage of Doug's tremendous popularity. Doug's senior campaign advisor (Chris Baker) ran this campaign from his office in Arizona and he was clearly ignorant of what was happening on the ground here in the North Country."