After a final day of intense campaigning, Republican incumbent Richard Hanna won his second term as a New York state congressman last night, beating Democrat challenger Dan Lamb for the seat in the newly redrawn 22nd congressional district.
Hanna spoke to the crowd at his headquarters after accepting Lamb’s concession over the phone.
"We, I, want to continue to earn the respect that you’ve shown me through your effort your commitment, your vote, your money, all of that," said Hanna. "We look forward to being the solution that this country so desperately needs."
Hanna’s margin of victory was predictably large -- over 50,000 votes in a district where voters are more familiar with him than Lamb. RealClearPolitics.com had also called the district a safe GOP seat, with over 33,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats.
The win marks the second term in the House of Representatives for Hanna, who beat the incumbent Democrat Michael Arcuri in 2010 for the seat in the old 24th district.
The new district lines may have been too much for the challenger Lamb, who is better known in the southern part of the district.
After conceding to Hanna, Lamb spoke to his supporters and said in they had to work twice as hard as the Republicans because of the disadvantage in registration.
"I'm very proud that we did work twice as hard. And I'm proud of where we got. And I'm proud that I learned so much from all of you about the importance of fighting for all the issues that we stood for in this race," said Lamb.
Hanna said he is ready to get back to Washington and get back to work.
Luke Tubia reported this story as part of the New York Reporting Project at Utica College. You can read more of the project's storiesat their website, nyrp-uc.org.