Katko declares victory over Balter in NY-24 race after polls close Tuesday night
Max Freund | Staff Photographer
Balter lost to Katko by about 6 percentage points in the 2018 election.
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Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) has declared victory in the race for New York’s 24th Congressional District.
The three-term incumbent was leading Democrat Dana Balter by about 20% as of Tuesday night, according to New York state’s Board of Elections. Katko earned 155,830 votes after all ballots cast in-person on Election Day and during the early votes period were counted. Balter received 100,728 votes.
The district has not yet counted absentee ballots, but the number of ballots that Democrats returned would likely not surpass Katko’s existing lead over Balter. Democrats returned slightly over 33,000 absentee ballots as of Tuesday, while Republicans returned about 16,600, Syracuse.com found. Katko said early Wednesday morning it was clear his campaign won, according to Syracuse.com.
The district will begin counting absentee ballots, about 53,000 of which were received in Onondaga County, on Nov. 9. Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 10 to be counted.
New York’s 24th Congressional District consists of Onondaga, Cayuga and Wayne counties and parts of Oswego County. After polls in New York state closed at 9 p.m, Katko ledthe race in every county in the district.
Katko is an alumnus of SU’s College of Law who has served in Congress since 2014. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor for 20 years. Balter, a former professor at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, lost to Katko by about 6% in the 2018 election.
The two candidates were tied at 45% as of Oct. 25, according to a poll by Siena College and Syracuse.com. A previous poll in early October had Balter leading by 2%.
Balter previously scheduled a press conference for 10 p.m. Tuesday night. Balter’s campaign canceled the conference shortly after 11:30 p.m. and said the campaign would send an update Wednesday.
Published on November 3, 2020 at 11:55 pm
Contact Mira: mlberenb@syr.edu
