Doug Hoffman Concedes Again, Will Not Seek Recount
"Yesterday, the remaining ballots were counted in the 23rd Congressional District special election," Hoffman said in a statement, according to Politico. "The results re-affirm the fact that Bill Owens won."
Hoffman continued: "Since, the morning of November 4th, many of my supporters have asked me to challenge the outcome of this race. Their concerns centered on the veracity of the new voting machines used, for the first time, in the majority of the 11 counties that make up the congressional district. Over the past three weeks, we nearly cut Bill Owens' lead in half. Sadly, that is not enough."
After Hoffman jumped into the race to represent New York's 23rd district, he began siphoning votes away from Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava, leaving the largely Republican district up for grabs for Owens, the Democrat. Scozzafava dropped out of the race days before election day and endorsed Owens.
On Election Night, Hoffman conceded to Owens when he was down by 5,335 votes. Some days later, however, Hoffman "unconceded" after learning that there were still a significant number of absentee ballots to count. Hoffman blamed the community organizing group ACORN for Owens' victory, though he gave no specific evidence to back up those claims.
Last week, it was reported there were not enough remaining ballots left to turn the victory over to Hoffman.