Polls showed the state was a pure tossup with neither candidate reaching a consistent lead. Many polling outlets considered this race to be a Lean Republican or a tossup. Prior to the election, news organizations considered the state a tossup or leaning Kerry. On July 28, 2010, Rasmussen Reports moved the race from tossup to leans Democratic. CQ Politics and Cook Political Report rated the election as a "Tossup". Clinton had a surprisingly strong performance in upstate New York which tends to be tossup. The race was particularly competitive, with some newspapers characterizing it as a "tossup". The Rothenberg Political Report changed its rating from "Tossup" to "Lean Takeover" on January 18. Ten points are awarded for correctly answering the tossup question. Governing magazine projected the race to be a "tossup". The fourth quarter consists of eight relatively longer tossup questions. If the score is still tied after this, a sudden death tossup will be read. The New York Times rated this district a tossup. Later, it moved back to tossup. The team who answered the last correct tossup gets to choose the next category.