The NY-20 special election’s litigation was put on hold today, when the scheduled court proceedings were delayed due to Judge James V. Brands being hospitalized and undergoing tests.
Senior court clerk Karen Bitonte told TPM that Judge Brands expects to be back in his chambers tomorrow, and court will resume on Wednesday. In Judge Brands’ absence, the lawyers for both sides spoke to Brands’ clerk. “The lawyers voiced their concerns to the judge’s law clerk, and she was going to take them to the judge,” Bitonte explained.
One outstanding issue here is whether the campaign of GOP candidate Jim Tedisco can successfully challenge certain absentee voters who maintain two addresses — voting in the district, but having driver’s licenses in New York City or elsewhere. If Tedisco were to be turned down in all or most examples, that would likely result in a pickup of as many as 100 votes for Democrat Scott Murphy.