There are so many political stories after the April 24 special elections. On April 27 Cindy Doran conceded on Facebook that "we will not be able to overcome the margin for a win in this election," in her contest against Jake Ashby for the 107th Assembly seat that represents parts of Columbia County and Rensselaer County. Doran was 280 votes behind Ashby on election night. In the 102nd Assembly election Republican Chris Tague was ahead of Democrat Aidan O’Connor by 288 votes and at least 1,324 absentee ballots will be counted between between May 1 and May 8, with 986 still not returned, according to John Conklin, director of public information for the state Board of Elections. And three Republican State Senators announced they are retiring at the end of their terms: John Bonacic, who represents Ulster, Orange, and Delaware counties; Sen. Kathy Marchione, who represents Columbia and Rensselaer counties; and Senate Deputy Majority Leader John DeFrancisco, who also suspended his campaign to get the Republican nomination for governor.