Surprising many of those arguing over her controversial candidacy, left-leaning Republican Congressional candidate Dede Scozzafava has dropped out of the special election for the 23rd District Congressional seat in New York. This leaves Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman as the strong favorite to win the election on Tuesday. Hoffman will caucus with Republicans and run for reelection as a Republican next fall.
Scozzafava came under heavy fire from right-wing Republicans over her positions on abortion and gay marriage and her association with union and pro-choice groups. While she had some key endorsements, including from Newt Gingrich, the NRA, the NRCC and the RNC, she had strong opposition from conservative groups who were more confident that Hoffman would represent their interests. Some of the attacks may have been unfair and Hoffman has attracted much of his support more because he was not Scozzafava than because of his own qualities.
Over the past week Scozzafava had lost her narrow lead in the polls and Hoffman was moving up against Democrat Bill Owens. Scozzafava seems to have had the good sense to realize that if the seat was to remain in Republican hands and not be lost to the Democrats she would need to step aside. There were also reports that Scozzafava was having serious fundraising problems and could not continue to run an effective campaign.
Today, in her statement calling off her campaign, Scozzafava wrote:
"I am and have always been a proud Republican. It is my hope that with my actions today, my Party will emerge stronger and our District and our nation can take an important step towards restoring the enduring strength and economic prosperity that has defined us for generations."Scozzafava's name will remain on the ballot, but she is encouraging her supporters to vote for Hoffman on Tuesday.
Scozzafava's withdrawal is a major success for reform-oriented Republicans who are demanding that the party move in a more fiscally conservative direction. It may signal a Republican sweep in the handful of special elections taking place this week as well as being a sign of things to come in 2010.
Article comments
1 - Christine
OH MY! Love Newt!
2 - Dave Nalle
Apparently newt love is not sufficient to keep a troubled candidacy going.
Dave
3 - Arch Conservative
No room for Rino's.
It'd be nice if we could get rid of Snowe and Collins but that aint gonna happen anytime soon.
4 - El Bicho
Just read Scozzafava Endorses Owens. 2010 is not going to be the cakewalk Republicans expect if they don't come together
5 - Silas Kain
Screw the parties for a minute and think about this. There were five original candidates in this race. Now, I'm going to bore you with some hard facts and figures in the hope that someone out there will get my point and realize that there is something VERY wrong with our campaign finance process.
To date they have raised a combined $1.9 MILLION of which $1.4 million has been disbursed. Now, consider the Demographics of New York's Congressional District 23, population 634,000. In that district the median income is about $35K. So, in total, they've raised about $3 for every man, woman and child in the district. Now, there are 371,333 registered voters in the district which translates out to an "investment" of $3.77 per voter. 109,133 voters (29%) cast their ballots on Election Day 2008. So based on past district performance and that this is an "off" election, I'd generously estimate that no more than 25% of the registered voters (92,800) will actually show up at the polls. So, that's about $15 per vote. Of the almost $2 million raised, how much is spent in NY District 23? And, of all the media money spent, how much of the profits actually stayed within the districts or ended up back at the corporate level? This is a decidedly conservative district in a rural area of New York yet it has become the battleground of the Conservative cause. How is it that we allow rural districts like NY-23 and rural states like Iowa decide the fate of the nation? How is it that a pipsqueak senator or congressman from a rural area can achieve such wealth while those back in their respective districts struggle just to put a loaf of bread on the table?
We've got serious problems with our election process, folks. But it involves facts and figures. We refuse to grasp the reality of the situation because it's just plain boring. When you buy a prescription at your drugstore, money goes into the pockets of a Congressman. When you pay exorbitant bank fees to CitiBank, a few cents goes to a politician. Heck, for that matter, when you buy a bucket of chicken at KFC, know that a portion of what you paid actually went into the campaign war chest of the member of Congress who called the President a liar. Open your eyes, smell the coffee and follow the money trail. We need campaign finance reform now. The special interests must be castrated at the very least (metaphorically, of course) and stopped from being allowed such incredible access to members of Congress. We elect these people -- our supposed friends and neighbors -- to go to Washington and be OUR voice. If anyone in NY District 23 reads this post, ask yourself a serious question before you cast your ballot. Did you get your $15 bucks worth out of your candidate?
6 - Dave Nalle
$15 a vote is still cheaper than the $20 it currently costs the Demos to buy votes in Louisiana.
Dave
7 - Silas Kain
But that don't make it right, Dave. Nobody in this country wants to even go near that which is most obviously in need of reform.