Republicans Could Be Poised to Pick Up Upstate New York Gillibrand House Seat

March 2, 2009 RSS Feed Print

By Michael Barone, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Gary Andres in the Weekly Standard's blog describes the campaigning in the special election to replace appointed Sen. Kisten Gillibrand in New York's 20th congressional district. A Siena Poll shows Republican Jim Tedisco 12 percent ahead of Democrat Scott Murphy. This could well be a Republican pickup, though its national implications are limited, for three reasons. (1) It's a Republican-leaning district. Gillibrand won in 2006 only because of late-breaking scandal news about the Republican incumbent. (2) Out parties often win special House elections in the first year of an administration. (3) Tedisco is a well-known politician in metro Albany, which includes most of the district, while Murphy has some tax problems.

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Kirsten Gillibrand,
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New York,
Congress,
elections,
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People should keep an eye on the candidacy of independent candidate Eric Sundwall.

The Republican and Democrat candidates were hand picked by party bosses. Sundwall had to collect 3,500 signatures from registered voters in the district to get onto the ballot.

Eric is from the district and has run before. With an expected low turn out on election day, he could prove to be a winner in this race.

Morris Guller

Lexington, New York

Morris N. Guller of NY 9:42AM March 04, 2009

Michael Barone

Michael Barone

U.S. News Weekly

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Michael Barone is a senior writer for U.S.News & World Report and principal coauthor of The Almanac of American Politics. He has written for many publications—including the Economist and the New York Times.

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