This afternoon, Republican Jim Tedisco conceded to Democrat Scott Murphy in the NY-20 congressional race, giving the Democrats a squeaker victory in a race both parties wanted desperately to win.

Republican state Assemblyman Jim Tedisco conceded the New York special election this afternoon to Democratic businessman Scott Murphy.

As of Friday afternoon, Murphy led Tedisco by 401 votes in the state Board of Elections’ unofficial count.

I wouldn’t call a 400 vote margin a grand victory, but don’t tell that to the Democrats

In a statement, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Chris Van Hollen called Murphy’s victory a referendum on President Obama’s economic policies.

“Congratulations to Congressman-elect Scott Murphy on his remarkable, come-from-behind victory. In this election, voters responded to Scott Murphy’s record as a successful businessman who helped to create more than 1,000 jobs and his strong support for President Obama’s economic recovery package,” Van Hollen said in a statement.

National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Pete Sessions (R-Tex.) argued that the closeness of the race in a Democratic-held seat – it previously was represented by newly-appointed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) – is an encouraging sign for the GOP.

If this vote had happened after the Tea Party momentum reached it’s zenith last week, I wonder if this race would have turned out differently. Regardless, this close decision means that the GOP will still have a chance to take this seat next cycle, so if I was Van Hollen and the Democrats, I wouldn’t be crowing too much about this just yet.