BUFFALO, N.Y. — After failing to concede Tuesday night and issuing a statement just after midnight citing "a number of statistical irregularities in a number of counties," Carl Paladino's campaign issued another statement on Wednesday saying he is moving onto the next chapter of his life.
Nick Langworthy beat Paladino in the GOP primary for the newly redrawn 23rd Congressional District and will move onto the general election.
"I was a little surprised. There is no shame in admitting that at least from my perspective," said Jacob Neiheisel, associate professor of political science at the University at Buffalo.
Neiheisel did not expect Langworthy to do as well as he did in the Southern Tier in the race to become the Republican nominee in the 23rd Congressional District.
"I figured that since that is, you know, clearly Trump Country that that would also be Carl Country, and I thought that the people who like Trump-style politics would very much be in favor of someone like a Carl Paladino," Neiheisel said.
Paladino won just Erie County, a county where Neiheisel thought the vote count would be closer.
"I would have thought that in order to win, that Langworthy would have had to make it a much closer race in Erie County," Neiheisel said.
Instead, Langworthy won by large margins in five of the six other counties in the 23rd.
"Somebody with a penchant for insider politics did what insiders do best, right, which is line up the party apparatus or the party network behind you and mobilize in a low salience, low-turnout race where, you know, some effort is going to net a fair amount of benefits in places like that," Neiheisel said.
Neiheisel says the outcome likely came down to one of two scenarios.
"Was this a Paladino strategic error, meaning did he assume that he had the Southern Tier, didn't spend the kind of time there that he should have? Or was this just a, you know, full-court press when it came to Langworthy's people in the Southern Tier?" Neiheisel said.
In November, Langworthy faces Democrat Max Della Pia who lost Tuesday's special election to serve the rest of Tom Reed's term in the old 23rd District.
Carl Paladino released this statement early Wednesday afternoon:
“I am truly blessed with the greatest family and friends in the world. Western New York is my home, and I am humbled by the voters who turned out to support me. My story is proof that the American dream is possible. I want to personally thank Assemblyman David DiPietro, Rob Astorino, Tim Howard, and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik for their friendship and support during this race. I also want to thank my staff and the hundreds of volunteers who helped my campaign. It is time to move onto the next chapter of my life. I am forever grateful for this community. I will always advocate for Western New York."