The last House race in the nation was decided Friday afternoon, as State Supreme Court Judge Scott DelConte ordered the final certification of Republican Claudia Tenney as U.S. Representative for New York's 22nd District (upstate).
In a 9-page ruling, DelConte granted Tenney's petition for certification of the final results and ordered the State Board of Elections to certify the outcome of the election — namely, that Tenney defeated Rep. Anthony Brindisi, D-N.Y., by 122 votes out of more than 326,000 cast.
For 11 days, DelConte's court has heard testimony from 19 witnesses, received 1,814 exhibits, and resolved all 1,196 challenges to votes cast.
Last week, 7 of the 8 counties in the 22nd District had certified their results. Del Conte ended the uncertainty of the House race Friday by ordering the hold-out — Oneida County — to certify its results.
For swashbuckling conservative Tenney, who has led Brindisi in the vote count since the evening of Nov. 3, the timing of her happy ending to this prolonged saga was poignant: DelConte ruled for her certification one day after the former and future congresswoman's 61st birthday.
Tenney is expected to take the oath of office as the newest House Member sometime next week.
As for Brindisi, the judge denied his motion seeking a stay of certification until all legal appeals are exhausted. However, the judge acknowledged the certification of the results "does not prevent Brindisi from directly challenging the election in the House of Representatives and potentially unseating Tenney under the Federal Contested Elections Act."
That would mean Tenney is only seated conditionally, pending the outcome of a special subcommittee of the House Rules Committee on the results in New York-22.
Whether Speaker Pelosi wants to go in that direction is unclear.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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