This past Saturday marked the end of the long-awaited Long Island vote recount between incumbent Craig Johnson (D) and newcomer Jack Martins (R).  The final vote tally resulted in a narrow 451-vote win for Martins and a two-seat Republican majority in the State Senate starting in January.

Following the court action, Sen. Craig Johnson announced that he would appeal the decision.   However, the judge refused to suspend the procedings pending another recount.  It is unclear at this point if Johnson will seek further legal action.

This change follows last week’s concession by Senator Antoine Thompson (D) of Buffalo to Mark Grisanti (R), and squashes any hope of attaining a 31-31 tie in the State Senate (pending further legal action by Democrats).   The last recount continues in Westchester, where incumbent Suzi Oppenheimer (D) is leading newcomer Bob Cohen (R) by 300 votes.