In Republican District, National Party Takes a Hit
By CARL HULSE
Published: November 7, 2009
It is not often that a political party puts more than $750,000 behind a candidate in a high-profile Congressional race, only to see the intended beneficiary endorse the opposition.
But that is exactly what happened in the race for New York’s 23rd District, a convoluted contest that turned into an Election Day disaster for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
The initial backing of Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava in a solidly Republican district cost the House Republicans’ campaign arm a significant amount of cash, considering that she bowed out of the race under conservative pressure just days before the election. Then Ms. Scozzafava publicly threw her support behind Bill Owens, the eventual winner, who was sworn in Friday as the 258th Democrat in the House and will be a crucial vote in the health care debate.
While the traditional view among Congressional campaign veterans is that special House elections like the one in New York last Tuesday are given political significance beyond their true import, this one had some notable fallout.
Besides tapping the group’s treasury on behalf of a defector, it also raised questions about the capabilities of the Republican organization, which had already lost a special election in a Republican-leaning New York district earlier this year. It has now been beaten by Democrats in five consecutive contested special elections — the political version of going one on one.snip//
The loss in New York had a significant psychological impact. It prevented an off-year Republican triumph that would have sent Democrats into a tailspin after a summer of angry town-hall-style meetings and boiling “tea party” demonstrations.
Instead, Democrats saw the only two national seats up for grabs — the New York seat and a second House seat in the Bay Area of California — end up in their hands. Losses for governor in New Jersey and Virginia became causes for concern rather than full-blown panic.
The race also illustrated again that Democrats built a formidable House campaign organization during the 2006 and 2008 election cycles, one that was able to win tough special elections in Louisiana, Mississippi and the Illinois district of the former Republican House speaker.
While Republicans may have been victims of odd developments in upstate New York, the race was no accident. Democrats planned to make mischief in the district from the moment Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, approached John M. McHugh, who held the seat, about becoming Army secretary. Democrats smelled opportunity. more...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/us/politics/08cong.html?hpw
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