Riley maintains lead over Molinaro as 97% of votes counted
Democratic challenger Josh Riley continues to lead Republican U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro with over 97% of the vote in.
Riley has 177,426 votes compared with 170,734 for Molinaro, according to unofficial returns from the state Board of Elections. NewsChannel 13 will be updating these numbers throughout the night.
It has become the most expensive House race in the United States, with nearly $39 million spent to win the seat, which includes parts of Rensselaer County and all of Greene and Columbia counties. It then extends west to include Ithaca and Binghamton.
It was a rematch of the 2022 race, in which Molinaro beat Riley by 1.6%.
Among the key issues that Molinaro focused on were immigration and the southern border and crime. Riley attacked Molinaro on the issue of abortion rights.
Molinaro is with his supporters at the Holiday Inn in Binghamton. NewsChannel 13’s Tessa Bentulan is there and will bring you updates on air and online. Riley is watching the returns coming in at Personal Best Brewing in Ithaca. NewsChannel 13’s Dan Levy is at that scene and will bring you updates.