Nick Reisman in LoHud.com's Politics on the Hudson blog reports Nassau County Justice Ira Warshawsky Saturday denied Democrats a hand recount in a too-close-to-call state Senate race. “The Johnson-Martins race is certified,” Justice Ira Warshawsky ruled in the case between Republican Jack Martin and incumbent Democrat Sen. Craig Johnson. Currently the New York State Senate is tied at 30 with two election winners still undetermined. Johnson went into the weekend trailing Martins by 451 votes, and plans to file the appeal Monday, Senate Democratic spokesman Austin Shafran told Reisman. “The judge’s decision to deny a recount is wrong on the letter and spirit of the law,” Shafran in the story. “In a race where the margin is less than half of one percent, the failure to count every vote is a disservice to every voter.” Democrats want a hand recount and have alleged malfunctions with the new optical voting machines mandate such a count. Republicans have argued a hand recount is a delaying tactic. In the other race, Westchester Democrat Suzi Oppenheimer is up about 300 votes over Republican Bob Cohen at this time. A tied assembly would probably favor the Democrats, although Republicans plan a court challenge to the Lt. Gov.’s tie-breaking vote. Our area Assembly representatives are Republican (Marc Molinaro, Pete Lopez, and Steve McLaughlin), so there could be more local pork if the GOP takes over.