Less than 100 votes separate candidates

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A hotly contested local race is even tighter after the primary. All of the votes are in, but we may not know the winner of the Democratic primary in the State Senate's 63rd District is for two weeks.

Just 91 votes separate incumbent Tim Kennedy and challenger Betty Jean Grant with 200 precincts reporting. Kennedy's slim lead was reduced late Friday afternoon by the Erie County Board of Elections. Thursday night, officials had Kennedy up by 271 votes.

Grant is not throwing in the towel, but determining the winner will take some time. There are just over 1,100 absentee ballots to count, and the election board doesn't expect those numbers to be in until next Thursday.

Elections Commissioner Ralph Mohr said, "It's very likely it could make a difference. It's really going to be up to the point of when we open the ballots how they occur."

Kennedy was expected to handily defeat Grant, as he is supported by Rep. Brian Higgins and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. But now his victory is less certain.

Whomever wins the primary will take the seat in Senate. There is no Republican challenger to face the primary winner in the general election.