Nov 09, 2004 — Election officials in Clinton and Franklin counties are still counting absentee ballots in the 114th district Assembly race. The margin between incumbent Republican Chris Ortloff and Democratic challenger Bernie Bassett has tightened to fewer than 1700 votes. Roughly roughly four thousand ballots remain to be counted. Bassett says he hopes he'll pull ahead and will wait until the vote is certified next week. Ortloff is already back in Albany and says he's confident that he'll be re-elected. This race is tighter than most observers expected. Democrats also held the River District in St. Lawrence County and taking control of the Franklin County legislature. Speaking yesterday with Brian Mann, Ortloff said this election was a wake-up call for North Country for Republicans.