Still Counting - The Undeclared Races

The media has focused on the Senate election results in Alaska which will yield either a Conservative Republican or a Moderate Republican. However, they have mostly ignored the struggles for remaining US House seats. Everyone agrees that the Republican gains in the US House of Representatives are historic. However, for some congressional races the "Fat Lady hasn't sung." The NRCC has noted, "Election Day has passed but there are still ballots to be counted." A gain of potentially five more Republican seats from the below races will add to the historic gains made by the Republicans in 2010 Elections.

Most of these locations where the counting remains incomplete or contested are like political war zone. Lawyers have descended on these races. It is in these close races that we see the importance of the honesty and competence required for local election commissioners and the poll workers who conducted the elections. If they did their work correctly, allowed voting by only those who were lawfully allowed to vote in their precincts, and prevented invalid absentee votes from being counted, they will have served well.

We should not ignore the embattled still on battlefields. They are not be among the other determined victors who have traveled to Washington, D.C. this week for orientation and for preparation to vote next week for their new House Leaders. But, those Republicans who win victory will also be critical in representing their constituents, in stopping the Pelosi, Reid, Obama agenda, and in returning our country to sanity. Below are the remaining Republicans who's races have not yet determined and their current positions as of 11/15/2010 - 9:00 am. To put things in perspective included are comments by the Left Wing Daily Kos:

	Blake Farenthold | TX-27 LEADING BY 792 VOTES Daily Kos: Incumbent Solomon Ortiz (D) is asking for a manual recount of his race against Blake Farenthold (R). Ortiz has served in the House since 1982. South Texas was a disaster area for Democrats, who also lost a number of state legislative seats in the area including one held by the Congressman's son, Solomon Ortiz Jr. [Snicker - Hoping Father Meets The Same Fate!]
	Randy Altschuler | NY-01 LEADING BY 383 VOTES Daily Kos: Suffolk County officials are auditing their voting machines, after an accounting error dramatically altered the results in this contested Long Island district. Once leading comfortably, incumbent Tim Bishop (D) now trails Randy Altschuler (R). Bishop's campaign has called for a full recount. Nearly 10,000 absentee ballots still hang in the balance. [GOP Victory Possible]
	Ann Marie Buerkle | NY-25 LEADING BY 687 VOTES Daily Kos: Freshman Dan Maffei (D) trails as counties tally absentee ballots. Ann Marie Buerkle (R) is likely to stretch her lead but his stronghold (Onondaga County) is the last one to count its absentee ballots. Even [so], the math is going to be tough. Maffei carried the populous Onondaga Co. by eight points, but there are only roughly 6000 absentee votes in the county. Unless he hugely overperforms in the absentees, the math gets really tough for Maffei. [Potential GOP Victory]
	Renee Ellmers | NC-02 LEADING BY 1,479 VOTES Daily Kos: Technically, the AP has called this race, in favor of Renee Ellmers (R). An alteration to the vote totals late last week moved the race within the 1% threshold for an automatic recount, which incumbent Bob Etheridge (D) seems inclined to [use]. Given that the result falls just inside that threshold (Ellmers leads by 1600 votes), the recount is not liable to change the results. [Smiling GOP Victory Likely]
	David Harmer | CA-11 TRAILING BY 1,685 VOTES Daily Kos: Rep. Jerry McNerney (D) has declared victory. The margins have fluctuated, but McNerney has moved into a 1500-2500 vote lead in recent tallies. David Harmer (R) is waiting until all the returns are in to concede, but an analysis by McNerney's campaign points out that only about 12,000 votes remain to be counted - not likely to make up enough votes to make up the difference. [Miracle Needed]
	Andy Vidak | CA-20 TRAILING BY 1,200 VOTES Daily Kos: Jim Costa (D) has declared victory, and an analysis of the balloting seems to indicate that his lead will almost certainly stand. Vidak had an enormous lead in Kings County which was more than offset by Costa's more modest edge in Fresno and Kern Counties. The bad news for Vidak? According to the CA Sec. of State, Kings County has finished their count but Kern and Fresno County are still counting ballots. Expectation: Costa's 1300-vote lead will expand. [Miracle Needed]
	Joe Walsh | IL-08 LEADING BY 347 VOTES Daily Kos: An acrimonious overtime, the Illinois GOP is sending in the lawyers to challenge absentee ballots as the clock ticks down on their tabulation in this suburban Chicago district. Even with their efforts, the math for Democratic incumbent Melissa Bean looks pretty daunting. More absentee ballots remain in Lake and McHenry Counties (which GOP opponent Joe Walsh carried) than remain in Cook County (where Bean ran strongest). With 1500 total votes remaining to be tallied, Bean will have to win those ballots by a better than 60-40 margin to make up her 347-vote deficit. [Smiling GOP Victory Likely]

Tags: 2010 Election, congressional races, republicans, 2010, CA-11, CA-20, IL-08, KY-06, NY-01, NY-25, NC-02, TX-27, NRCC To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!