UPDATED: Nov. 8, 1:00 a.m.

Democrat Dan Maffei has declared victory in the 24th Congressional District race, although U.S. Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle has yet to concede.

“I am honored that the people of Central New York have elected me to represent them in Congress,” Maffei said in a statement released early Wednesday afternoon. “We have won an important victory for Central New York’s middle class.”

Maffei said in the statement that as a U.S. representative, he is looking forward to “working to fix our economy, create jobs, and rebuild our middle class.”

But Buerkle, R-Onondaga Hill, released a statement just shy of 11 a.m. Wednesday that said she is still waiting for all of the votes to be tallied in the 24th Congressional District, even though The Associated Press called the race for Maffei before the clock hit midnight on Election Day.

“In 2010, we were trailing on election night, only to see more votes come in and the outcome changed,” Buerkle said in the statement. “With so many ballots still to be recorded, it is important that we make sure there is an accurate counting of all votes. Our right to vote has been bought and paid for by the men and women of our armed services, and we owe it to all who have paid the ultimate price to count these ballots and allow the Democratic process to run its course.”

As of 3:45 a.m. Wednesday, 99 percent — 637 out of 640 precincts reporting — of the vote had been counted. Buerkle had 44 percent of the vote while Maffei held 48 percent in the 24th Congressional District race, according to unofficial results from across the 24th Congressional District. Green Party candidate Ursula Rozum had about 8 percent of the vote and conceded the loss on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Maffei picked up 2,000 votes in Cayuga County, which made its results public five hours after the polls closed. He now has 131,242 votes, or 49 percent, while Buerkle trails with 116,641, or 43 percent. More than 21,500 absentee ballots were distributed in the race. Buerkle would need to win a vast majority of the votes to erase the 14,601-vote lead that Maffei holds.

In 2010, Buerkle edged out Maffei by 648 votes to win the former 25th Congressional District seat. But she didn’t win the seat until Nov. 23 when Maffei conceded the race after three weeks of ballot inspections and recounts.

Published on November 7, 2012 at 2:27 pm

Contact Jon: jdharr04@syr.edu