Whether New York state Senators Stephen
Saland of Poughkeepsie and Roy McDonald of Saratoga County will
prevail in their GOP primary races remains uncertain.
Saland and McDonald were among the four
Republicans who last year crossed the aisle to vote with all but one
Democrat to legalize gay marriage in New York, making it the most
populous state yet to do so.
Senator Mark Grisanti of Buffalo won
his primary with a comfortable margin. James Alesi of Rochester, the
fourth senator, retired.
Election officials began counting
absentee ballots on Thursday. Saland's lead grew as more ballots
were counted, The
New York Times reported. But McDonald fell further behind.
Some counties will not begin counting paper ballots until next week.
Opponents of marriage equality had
vowed to take down the four senators.
(Related: Gay
marriage foes target New York lawmakers with billboards.)