Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Another Special Election in NYS

Here we go again....

The Scorecard, Politico:
Another New York special election on tap

President Obama has tapped Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) to serve as Secretary of the Army, creating another opportunity for House Democrats to pick up an upstate New York Congressional seat.

McHugh, the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, represents a competitive district that has been trending in a Democratic direction in recent years. President Obama carried the district with 52 percent of the vote over John McCain last year.

Former President George W. Bush also won the seat in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.

McHugh’s district neighbors the seat of Rep. Scott Murphy (D-N.Y.), who won a closely-contested special election in March.

“There’s not a district that mirrors New York 20 any more than this one. It’s a large, sprawling district that traditionally had favored Republicans but it's slowly shifted to the Democrats,” said one New York Republican operative.

And Democrats have been making strides within the lines of the 23rd District, picking up a Republican-held state Senate seat in a 2008 legislative election

McHugh represented the North Country district since 1992, and never faced a competitive general election. If he’s confirmed, there would be only two Republicans remaining in the 29-seat Empire State delegation.

Both party committees will now be looking for candidates to run in an upcoming special election.

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