Updated: 11/4/20 – 4:12 P.M.
ONEONTA, NY (WSKG) - Democrat Jim Barber has conceded to his opponent, Republican Peter Oberacker, in the race to replace the New York State Senate seat currently held by James Seward. Seward is retiring at the end of the year after serving the area for three decades.
According to Barber's campaign officials, the Democrat called Oberacker to concede late Tuesday night.
Oberacker is a member of the Otsego County Board of Representatives. As of Wednesday afternoon, he holds a lead of nearly 22,000 votes.
Oberacker said he was cautiously optimistic for the outcome of the race on election night.
“It’s validation. We had a great team. They were working so hard, putting in hours, unbelievable," Oberacker said. "And from a business perspective, as a businessman looking at it, we were firing on all cylinders the whole way."
Barber, is a farmer from Schoharie County. He took an early lead as results were first reported and previously said he wants to wait until absentee votes have been tallied.
“I can tell you the important thing is that we make sure every vote is counted,” he said.
Senate District 51 covers all of Otsego and Cortland counties, along with parts of Ulster, Herkimer, Delaware, Chenango, Cayuga and Tompkins counties.
*This story was updated after Barber conceded to Oberacker.