Syracuse Democrat Dana Balter on Friday conceded to U. S. Rep. John Katko in the 24th Congressional District election, acknowledging that she had come up short in a second consecutive bid to unseat the Republican congressman.
Balter said she called Katko, R-Camillus, on Friday afternoon to congratulate him, a day after Katko clinched the election. Balter did not win enough of the early absentee ballots to overcome the 20 percentage point lead that Katko had on Election Day.
Katko led by 55,102 votes on Election Day, and had a lead of 44,729 votes (55.6-40.5%) Thursday night after more than 30,000 absentee ballots had been counted.
“The current absentee ballot count makes it clear that our campaign does not have a path forward,” Balter said in a statement Friday.
“Today, I congratulate Congressman Katko on his victory and hope that in his next term, he will advocate for policies that will help working families in this district,” Balter said. “As I’ve said since the beginning of my campaign, central and western New Yorkers deserve affordable and accessible healthcare, an economy that works for working people, and a political system free from the influence of big money.”
Katko said he congratulated Balter in the phone call for a well-fought campaign.
“It remains an hon…
My statement on Election Results in the #NY24 Congressional Race: pic.twitter.com/U1QFimVTGL
— Dana Balter for Congress (@dana_balter) November 13, 2020