Washington (CNN) - As two of the three candidates in a special election to fill a vacant congressional seat in upstate New York get ready to debate, another major national political organization has jumped into the ad wars, another sign that a once semi-obscure local election is now firmly in the national spotlight.

The candidates, Republican state Assemblywoman Jane Corwin and Democrat Kathleen Hochul face off Thursday morning. The other person in the contest, tea party candidate Jack Davis, a conservative Democrat, has backed out of the debate, and says both Corwin and Hochul are lying about his record.
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