Dem's Victory in NY House Race All But Official

The special election in New York’s 20th congressional district looks like it won’t go the way of the Minnesota Senate vote, with recounts, lawsuits, and ballot challenges, Politico reports. Republican Jim Tedisco may concede as soon as today to Democrat Scott Murphy, who holds a 401-vote lead with 761 to be counted.

“I don’t know what argument we’d have if everything is done legally, and it looks like it’s been done legally,” a local GOP chairman says. Republicans are hoping to win a ruling that dual-residency voters who live in New York City can’t cast ballots upstate. Such a precedent would make a 2010 challenge to the seat—by Tedisco or another candidate—a little easier, but it won’t swing the current race in Tedisco’s favor. (More Jim Tedisco stories.)