Wayne County, N.Y. --- The latest poll in New York’s 24th Congressional District race has Democrat Dan Maffei and Republican Ann Marie Buerkle tied heading into Election Day.
In 2010 the race between these two candidates was so close that it took weeks to determine a final winner. Ballots were locked down, lawyers were brought in, and each vote was carefully scrutinized. In the end Buerkle won by fewer than 700 votes, among the closest margins of victory for any Congressional race in the country.
"It was just a few hundred (votes) they were almost tied,” Dean Hartfiel of Williamson recalled. “I just think it's not going to go that way this year.”
One reason why Hartfiel could be right about that is the emergence of a third party candidate who is running this race to the end. Ursula Rozum is running on the Green Party line and has polled in the 7% to 8% range; not enough support to win but certainly enough to significantly impact the outcome.
"I don't know I think it's going to be a tight race but like you said before we live in a Republican neighborhood here,” Curtis Turner of Williamson said while acknowledging Wayne County voters could determine the outcome. “I think it's going to be tight.”
"I think it's too hard to tell because look everything is going to be close," Nancy Urrutia of Sodus Point said.
