CNN 100: Toss Up in New York 01

Editor's Note: In the final 100 days before Election Day, CNN has been profiling one race at random each day from among the nation's top 100 House races, which we've dubbed "The CNN 100." Read the full list here. Today's featured district is:

New York 01: Rep. Tim Bishop (D) defends his seat
Primary: September 15, 2010
Location: Eastern Long Island
Days until the election: 32

Four-term Democratic congressman Rep. Tim Bishop has a hard fight on his hands, defending his Long Island-based district from a heavily-funded onslaught by GOP businessman Randy Altschuler.

Altshculer loaned himself nearly 70 percent of his war chest - $2 million - but drained much of it during his own tough primary fight against a field that included Richard Nixon's grandson Chris Cox.

Altschuler could dump more of his own cash into the race, but with three weeks left in the campaign, Altschuler and Bishop each have just over $1 million in the bank.

Bishop, who was an academic administrator before stepping into the political arena, is not only competing against Altschuler's fortune, but he's also contending with a conservative electorate that is receptive to the Republican's "bloated federal bureaucracy" and "culture of corruption" message about the Democratic-led Congress.

Bishop has been a solid supporter of most of the Democratic agenda in Congress, including the health care reform bill that passed last summer. Altschuler has hammered the incumbent on his ties to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Still, Bishop has raised close to $2 million to be able to compete, and he does have deep roots in the district. Prominent political analyst Stu Rothenberg calls this race a "toss up/tilt Democrat," and, by most accounts, this fight is still Bishop's to lose.