Democrat wins NY House race
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/04/01/art.getty.vote.jpg caption="The race was too close to call following the March 31 election, but as absentee and overseas ballots poured in the past few weeks, Murphy's lead grew."] (CNN) - It took nearly a month, but Democrat Scott Murphy has won the battle for New York's 20th congressional district.
Republican James Tedisco conceded Friday and called Murphy by phone to offer congratulations.
"I look forward to rolling up my sleeves in Washington to bring jobs, opportunity and prosperity back to upstate New York," Murphy said in a statement.
The race was too close to call following the March 31 election. But as absentee and overseas ballots poured in the past few weeks, Murphy's lead grew.
The Missouri-born Murphy, 39, is a millionaire venture capitalist. Tedisco, 58, is a longtime New York state lawmaker and ranking Republican in the State Assembly.
Battle for Congressional seat heads to court
(CNN) - The battle for New York's 20th Congressional district heads to court today.
With all the ballots counted, Democrat Scott Murphy has a 273-vote lead over Republican Jim Tedisco, out of nearly 180,000 votes cast in the March 30 special election, according to unofficial results from the New York State Board of Elections.
But more than 1,300 ballots have been laid aside based on objections from one side or the other, and attorneys from both camps will argue in court today over the status of those votes.
The Missouri-born Murphy, 39, is a millionaire venture capitalist. Tedisco, 58, is a longtime New York state lawmaker and ranking Republican in the State Assembly.
They're running to replace Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed to Hillary Clinton's former Senate seat by New York Gov. David Paterson.
Regardless of who wins the special election, the Democrats will continue to hold a large majority in the House of Representatives. But what normally would have been a local contest with little national interest partially evolved into an early referendum on President Barack Obama, his polices to jump-start the economy, and the reputations of the Democratic and Republican parties, as both national parties and their congressional committees poured money and resources into the race.
Tedisco, Murphy both confident about a win in NY-20
WASHINGTON (CNN) - As election day closes without a winner in New York's 20th congressional district, each of the candidates sounded an optimistic tone that he would come out on top after all the votes are counted.
Democrat Scott Murphy currently leads Republican Jim Tedisco by 25 votes, but the results don't include absentee ballots. Murphy said that because he was able to close a 20-point deficit in the polls in recent weeks, that he thinks that his momentum will carry him through.
"We just think we're going to have the same kind of results we had with the absentees that we had with all the rest of the ballots," Murphy said at Poopie's Diner in Glens Falls, New York on Wednesday. "We're ahead after the regular count, there's been a lot of votes counted already, we think we'll be ahead after the absentees."
But Tedisco said that because the tally so far doesn't include military voters, who tend to lean Republican, the remaining ballots will push him over the edge.
"When we finish those counts, we believe we'll be off to Congress and we couldn't be more excited to represent this outstanding group of constituents," Tedisco said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Obama lends a hand to New York congressional candidate
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/03/24/art.obama4.gi.jpg caption=" Obama endorsed Scott Murphy on Wednesday, less than a week before the special election."]WASHINGTON (CNN) - For the first time since taking office, President Obama is spending some political capital to get another Democrat elected.
On Wednesday, Obama e-mailed New York Democrats endorsing Scott Murphy, the venture capitalist who is running in the special election to fill the seat in New York's 20th congressional district that was vacated by Kirsten Gillibrand when she was appointed to the U.S. Senate in January.
Murphy's Republican opponent is New York Assemblyman Jim Tedisco. The special election is scheduled for next Tuesday. Though the Democratic and Republican campaign committees in the House of Representatives have pumped resources into the race, the president has so far kept his distance.
In the e-mail, Obama calls Murphy an "ally for change" and cites his support for the economic stimulus bill that the president signed in February, a piece of legislation that has become a hot-button issue in the race.
"Scott has the kind of experience and background we desperately need right now in Washington," Obama said in the message, which was sent to nearly 60,000 upstate New Yorkers on the e-mail lists of the Democratic National Committee and "Organizing for America," Obama's political organization.
"He's created jobs by building and growing small businesses while bringing people together to address difficult challenges," Obama said of Murphy.
GOP House candidate goes non-partisan in latest ad
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/03/18/art.tedisco.cnn.jpg caption="Jim Tedisco's a Republican on the ballot, but not on the airwaves."]
(CNN) - He's a Republican on the ballot, but not on the airwaves: GOP state assemblymen Jim Tedisco, running for the open seat in New York's 20th congressional district, is quoting President Obama in his latest ad.
"Like the president said, in these difficult times, we're not Republicans or Democrats, we're Americans," he says in the 30-second spot. "And that's the team I'm on."
Tedisco's former double-digit lead over Murphy has shrunk to 4 points in the most recent Siena poll, released last week.
Yesterday, the Republican National Committee sent another $100,000 to the state party as the race enters the home stretch. The special election is set for March 31.
RNC sends more cash to NY 20
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/03/17/art.getty.rnc.logo.jpg caption="As the race in New York’s 20th congressional district continues to tighten, the Republican National Committee is sending another $100,000 to the state party in New York."](CNN) - As the race in New York’s 20th congressional district continues to tighten, the Republican National Committee is sending another $100,000 to the state party in New York - the second time in less than a week it’s spent that sum on the special election contest there.
The move comes a day after GOP New York assemblyman Jim Tedisco, running for Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s former congressional seat, told reporters he would have voted against the stimulus bill.
Questions over Tedisco's position - he had earlier suggested he would have supported a modified version of the legislation - had dogged the candidate for days.
Last Thursday, the RNC announced the transfer of $100,000 to the New York State Republican Committee, as fresh numbers showed a vanishing advantage for Tedisco in the March 31 special election.
A Siena poll released the same day suggested his lead over Democratic venture capitalist Scott Murphy had plummeted by two-thirds over the past two weeks, to just 4 points, despite the district's traditionally Republican bent.
Recent Comments