Bishop challenger vows fight

Rep. Tim Bishop's camp claimed victory Wednesday, but the challenger to the incumbent Southampton congressman said he's not ready to give up yet.

Saying the race was too close to call, a spokesman for Randy Altschuler said Wednesday afternoon the district's 8,972 absentee ballots needed to be counted.

"Thousands of absentee ballots are in play, and that number is sure to increase over the next few days," spokesman Rob Ryan said. "We plan to proceed in a judicious fashion until every vote has been accurately counted."

Democrats said Bishop's 3,400-vote lead was enough.

"We have a very solid margin," Brookhaven Democratic chairman Jon Schneider said. "A quick glance at absentee votes tells you that they are predominately from the East End, which is Tim's home base."

Early Wednesday, Suffolk County Board of Elections results showed Bishop (D-Southampton) leading Altschuler by a margin of about 3,400 votes - 92,252 to 88,791 -- with 100 percent of the 460 election districts reporting.

Altschuler, a St. James businessman, sought to paint Bishop as a tax-raising Democrat aligned more with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) than the district, while Bishop hammered Altschuler for living in the district for just four years and building companies that employed overseas workers in back-office jobs previously held by Americans.

In the campaign's waning days, Bishop brought in big guns such as Vice President Joe Biden for a fundraiser and former president Bill Clinton for a rally at Stony Brook University.

Bishop needed the help, he said, because "I'm facing a gazillionaire." Altschuler spent at least $2.5 million of his own money on the campaign.

At the Suffolk Democratic Party celebration in Islandia early Wednesday, Bishop said the race "was a little closer than I would have liked."

The incumbent then told supporters: "But I like where I am, and I'd rather be here than where he is," referring to Altschuler.

Four Long Island House incumbents retained their seats Tuesday, led by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy who survived a tough challenge from Republican challenger Francis X. Becker.

Becker ran a largely below-the-radar race until late October, when he released a poll conducted by his campaign showing him within a single percentage point of McCarthy (D-Mineola).

That margin grew to 7 percent on election night, however.

Reps. Steve Israel (D-Dix Hills), Peter King (R-Seaford) and Gary Ackerman (D-Roslyn Heights) also won re-election. The toughest battle belonged to Bishop, 60, who was seeking his fifth term.

Israel, 52, fought off a challenge from underfunded Republican John Gomez of Bayport. Gomez, 48, tried to exploit his high-profile friendship with talk show host Sean Hannity.

King, 66, and Ackerman, 67, had only token challengers to their re-election bids. King defeated schoolteacher Howard Kudler, 56, of Merrick to win his 10th term. Ackerman beat physician James Milano, 42 of Oyster Bay.

With Patrick Whittle, William Murphy and Denise M. Bonilla