New York GOP Rep. Jack Quinn Retiring

[CShine]

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Republican Rep. Jack Quinn announced plans to retire Monday after six terms in Congress from upstate New York, giving Democrats an open seat to aim for in the fall campaign.

Quinn, 53, cited the rigors of traveling between Buffalo and Washington for his decision. "My family's made incredible sacrifices for me to do this job for 12 years," he said in an unexpected announcement.

Quinn said he has no job lined up but did not rule out a future run for governor or the Senate. "You never say never. If I did, I'd still be teaching English," he quipped.

Quinn's close ties to organized labor — he was a union steelworker and teacher before entering politics — helped him survive in a congressional district that Democrat Al Gore won handily in the 2000 presidential election.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=684&ncid=703&e=7&u=/ap/20040426/ap_on_el_ho/quinn_congress

[David__77]

1. We should win this seat. Find a good candidate, quick!

There's absolutely no reason a Democrat should not win this seat. The rightists know this fact.

[cally]

2. Let's hope it's a Dem pickup

:kick:

[NewJerseyDem]

3. We have to win this one

This is the type of seat the democrats have to win in order to take back the House. NY-27 is pretty democratic and voted solidly for Gore. Quinn was able to win because he was pro-labor but it is unlikely that the GOP nominee will be as pro-labor as he was. The democrats need to get a strong nominee though so we don't blow this oppurtunity. I'm also worried about the possibility of the GOP nominee being Jack Quinn, Jr. but I don't know how far the Quinn name can take him in the district.

[AP]

4. This is Bill Paxson's old district and is carefully designed to elect...

...Republicans. It includes the Buffalo suburbs, stretches through farm land, and ends in the Rochester suburbs, carefully avoiding black neighborhoods in both cities.

Gore won NY easily, so of course he'd do well in this district, and Clinton did much better in this district than expected, but it's still going to be hard for a Democrat to win this seat even if Bush loses the district in a landslide.