ROCHESTER, NY: All three Republican candidates vying for the right to take on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand qualified for the GOP Primary ballot at the State Convention this afternoon, setting off fierce primary over a compressed schedule.

Wendy Long, a conservative judicial activist and attorney, nearly got the 50 percent of the vote required to be the official party nominee, finishing with 47.37 percent of the delegates. The vote-rich counties of Westchester and Suffolk Counties withheld the vote until their voting was over, eventually going with Congressman Bob Turner and Nassau County comptroller George Maragos, respectively. Read More

Delegates are filing into their seats here at the Republican State Convention, and we are hearing from multiple sources that Wendy Long is near receiving over 40 percent of the delegates at the convention.

Were Ms. Long to hit 50 percent of the delegates, she would become the official designee of the party, and it could add pressure for the other contenders to drop out.  Candidates must receive 25 percent of the vote to get on the ballot or petition to get on a time-consuming and expensive process. Read More