Congressman Tim Bishop is declaring victory Tuesday night after a heated campaign between Randy Altschuler that racked up millions of dollars from both sides before the voting was done.
“The only thing that’s worse than a sore loser is a lousy winner, so I’m not going to say all the things that are going through my head and heart right now,” Bishop said during his victory speech at the Islandia Marriot, where the Suffolk County Democrats held their victory celebration and awaited voting results. “I’m just going to say that my opponent had people with big checks, but I had people with big hearts. The big hearts win every time.”
One of the biggest Super-Pacs in the country, Crossroads GPS, which was run by Karl Rove, spent almost $2 million, estimates say, to defeat Bishop, but it was money wasted.
After he spoke to the enthusiastic crowd that was still euphoric over the news that President Obama was the projected winner of the presidential race, Bishop was talking to reporters and supporters and drinking a beer. It was nothing like the nail biter in 2010, which took weeks to count and ended up with him winning by only 593 votes.
“It feels better to win by four figures than three,” Bishop said to the crowd.
Altschuler congratulated Bishop during a speech at the Emporium in Patchogue, where the Suffolk County Republicans had congregated.
“I wish Congressman Bishop the very best in his effort the next couple of years,” he said.
While Altschuler has not called the Congressman to concede, Bishop’s people say that it’s only a matter of time because he cannot win enough absentee ballots to negate the margin of Bishop’s victory.
Additional reporting by Rashed Mian
