The Gist

Spotlight on a (Very) Close Race

The race in New York’s 19th district has everything: celebrity, big money, name-calling, fracking, and a very uncertain outcome.

Zephyr Teachout, now running for Congress, speaks to reporters outside a voting station at Public School 153 on Sept. 9, 2014, in New York City.

Andrew Burton/Getty Images

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A look inside one of the closest congressional races this year, New York’s 19th. Former Gist guest and Bernie Sanders–favorite Zephyr Teachout takes on Republican state Assemblyman John Faso for an open seat. The race is one of the few that the Cook Political Report has labeled a toss-up, and it’s a microcosm for lots of American anxieties. Teachout opposes fracking and supports environmental causes in a district that relies heavily on cars, while Faso is a Trump-ambivalent Republican who hasn’t even said who he’ll be voting for come Election Day.*

In The Spiel, the antics of James Comey, explained.

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*Correction, Nov. 1, 2016: This post originally misidentified John Faso as anti-Trump. He is Trump-ambivalent. It also misstated that Zephyr Teachout supports carbon pricing. The candidate’s campaign says that she does not.