Former Congresswoman Claudia Tenney is holding the lead over incumbent Anthony Brindisi in the 22nd Congressional District race, but with thousands of absentee ballots still to count, it's still too early to call.

The latest results show that Brindisi is trailing behind Tenney by more than 28,000 thousand votes.

According to Utica College Political Science Professor, Luke Perry, who has been following this race closely, there have been about 68,000 absentee ballots requested in the district and about 45,000 have been returned so far.

"I would say Brindisi is on the ropes," Perry said. "He needs to make up about a 28,000 gap that Tenney is ahead, so he needs those absentees to come in at a high percentage and he needs to win them at a high percentage to squeak this out."

The district covers all of Oneida, Madison, Chenango, and Cortland counties, as well as parts of Herkimer, Oswego, Tioga, and Broome counties.

"I think the vote total so far shows that Claudia Tenney has been able to cut into Brindisi's advantage in Broome County and extend her margins in the more rural counties that are more conservative and favor her, so I think those two things help explain her success to this point."

Absentee ballots will be coming in until Nov. 10 and will be counted as long as they are postmarked by Nov. 3.