GOP Assemb. Dean Murray has conceded the race for the 3rd District seat to an opponent who ran a grassroots campaign and spent almost no money.
A Suffolk County elections official confirmed Friday that Murray conceded to Democratic challenger Edward Hennessey.
Murray thanked his supporters on Facebook, calling it an "an honor and a privilege" to serve the residents of the 3rd Assembly District over the past three years. He added that "it wasn't in the cards for me to continue doing so."
In the second day of recanvassing, Hennessey pulled ahead of Murray. As of 8 p.m. Thursday, Hennessey had a 148-vote lead with 56 of the 72 election districts counted, officials said. County election officials were expected to continue the recount Friday morning.
As of 5 p.m. Thursday, Democratic election officials said Hennessey had a 90-vote lead after 42 of the 72 election districts were counted. Republican election officials put Hennessey’s lead at 70.
Murray, who had an unofficial 36-vote lead on election night, saw the gap shrink to 28 on Wednesday before the recount began, after one polling machine in Medford that had malfunctioned was fixed. But after the first 10 election districts, Murray regained five or six votes by late Monday, giving him an edge of 33 or 34 votes, depending on Republican and Democrats’ accounts.
But by noon Thursday, election officials said Murrary's edge had fallen to six and Hennessey took the lead in the afternoon.