There could be a new face leading the 97th Assembly District, with Republican challenger Mike Lawler leading Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee by about 8,000 votes.

Can Jaffee make up the difference once absentee votes are counted?

Republican Mike Lawler wasted no time making his victory speech on election night, after closed polls showed him leading the 97th Assembly race 58% to 41%.

But that 7,500-vote lead is being overshadowed by about 15,000 absentee ballots.

Of the roughly 12,000 mail-in ballots returned to the Board of Elections, half are Democrats, with only a small portion of Republicans.

It's a sliver of hope Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee is holding onto, holding off on conceding and telling News 12 "it's critical that every single vote is counted."

Polling workers won't start counting those absentee ballots until Friday, and ballots can still come in through Nov. 10.

As he lies in wait, Lawler is lining up issues to tackle once his opponent waves the white flag.

"We have the second highest property taxes in America driven by the exorbitant cost of Medicaid and our school taxes and broken school state aid formula that short-changes Rockland County millions of dollars," he says.

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