Far right New York congressional candidate Doug Hoffman has posted a wacky, paranoid “unconcession” letter at his website; he accuses ACORN and “the unions” of “tampering with democracy,” and the file name of the web page is “stolenelection.html.” Wow. Stop Another Stolen Election!

(Hat tip: Dave Weigel, who points out that ACORN actually had no volunteers in Hoffman’s district.)

Prodded by Glenn Beck, far right candidate Doug Hoffman has ‘unconceded’ in New York 23.

After some tabulating errors were discovered, Owens’ lead over Hoffman shrunk to 3,026 votes. But there are as many as 10,000 oustanding absentee and paper ballots that only today will begin to be counted. (And that number could be far less; 10,000 absentee ballots were requested … we don’t know exactly how many were returned.) Hoffman “unconceded” today on Glenn Beck’s national radio show.

Here’s video of RNC chairman Michael Steele’s statement this morning, with some pointed comments aimed at Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, and RedState blogger Erick Erickson’s claim that the NY-23 loss was a “victory:” Steele Throws Elbow to Palin, Pawlenty on NY-23.

Meet the next hero of the tea party movement: In NY-23, Hoffman Vows to ‘Continue This Fight’.

“I can guarantee you the political world hasn’t seen the last of me,” the Conservative Party candidate told Washington Wire today, after losing the closely watched special House election in upstate New York to Democrat Bill Owens.

“I’m going to make sure that going forward, either I will decide to run again for something or I will help other people to get involved and run to make sure that we continue this fight,” Hoffman said by telephone from his campaign headquarters in Saranac Lake, N.Y.

Over at RedState, the all-spin zone, CEO Erick Erickson is trying his best to take the NY-23 loss, dress it up in a cheap suit, and call it a “victory:” In NY-23, Conservatives Win.

Erickson’s “point,” if it can be called that, is that the far right “sent a message,” scared the hell out of the GOP, and “crushed” the official GOP NY-23 candidate Dede Scozzafava. Therefore it’s a victory, even though their candidate, uh, lost.

Meanwhile, Michael Steele enthusiastically declares a ‘Republican renaissance’.

Unless some of the late precincts are packing a big surprise, it looks like Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman has been defeated by Democrat Bill Owens in New York’s 23rd congressional district election…

UPDATE at 11/3/09 9:18:47 pm:

Yep — Hoffman has conceded to Owens. So there’s the first Democrat victory in NY-23 in more than 100 years. Nice work, Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck!

Dave Weigel reports that the Doug Hoffman campaign is accusing the Owens camp of bringing in the dreaded ACORN and stealing the election.

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – At a short press availability in his campaign office here, NY-23 Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman said that a GOTV volunteer’s tires had been slashed, and all but blamed Democrats for the dirty trick.

“There are reports that they’re bringing in the troops and they’re bringing in ACORN,” said Hoffman. “I think the Democrats are doing anything they possibly can to steal this election away from the 23rd district.”

The New York Daily News is reporting disturbances at some polling stations, apparently from anti-abortion “activists” who support Doug Hoffman: Police Called To NY-23 Polling Sites.

I just got off the phone with former state Democratic Chairwoman June O’Neill, who informed me the police had been called to at least two polling sites in St. Lawrence County due to overzealous electioneering (O’Neill called it “voter intimidation”) by Doug Hoffman supporters.

“We’ve gotten reports that people are standing there, covered with Hoffman stickers and yelling anti-choice stuff at voters,” said O’Neill, a St. Lawrence native who has been running the party’s GOTV effort for Bill Owens in NY-23.

“Apparently, there’s some woman claiming to be a commissioner,” O’Neill continued. “Commissioner of what, I don’t know. She’s from Texas, I think, and she won’t leave.”

“This is not the way we roll in the North Country.”

O’Neill also said she had received anecdotal reports of problems at polling sites in Gouverneur, which is Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava’s hometown. But she couldn’t immediately confirm this.

Politico has a piece on the rise of what they’re calling “conservatives,” but what I would call the “far right” — the surging tea party-spawned candidates who are going to make life miserable for the Republican Party (not that they don’t deserve it), and guarantee the reelection of Barack Obama with their extreme rhetoric and agenda: Uncivil War: Conservatives to challenge a dozen GOP candidates.

In what could be a nightmare scenario for Republican Party officials, conservative activists are gearing up to challenge leading GOP candidates in more than a dozen key House and Senate races in 2010.

Conservatives and tea party activists had already set their sights on some of the GOP’s top Senate recruits — a list that includes Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida, former Rep. Rob Simmons in Connecticut and Rep. Mark Kirk in Illinois, among others.

But their success in Tuesday’s upstate New York special election, where grass-roots efforts pushed GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava to drop out of the race and helped Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman surge into the lead on the eve of Election Day, has generated more money and enthusiasm than organizers ever imagined.

Newt Gingrich is reportedly angry with Dede Scozzafava for endorsing her former opponent, Democrat Bill Owens.

Scozzafava’s decision infuriated Republicans who had stuck with her, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

He told the AP that he was disappointed and “deeply upset.”

“How could she have accepted all that support?” he said, adding later, “I’m very, very let down because she told everybody she was a Republican, and she said she was a loyal Republican.”

Gingrich might be upset because he backed Scozzafava and now has to eat crow and support Hoffman. But it’s a funny kind of loyalty to demand, a loyalty that only works in one direction. If the GOP is going to start enthusiastically carrying out tea party-style purges, it’s a bit hypocritical to complain about disloyalty from the ones who are cast out.