Posted on 04/01/2010 3:12:59 PM PDT by autumnraine
In an unwelcome bit of news for the GOP, New York governor David Paterson has announced that he would not call a special election to fill the House seat left vacant by former Democratic Rep. Eric Massa.
Massa resigned last month amid in ethics investigation into accusations that he sexually harassed male members of his staff and subsequently acknowledged groping a staffer non-sexually.
Paterson had initially vowed to call a special election to replace Massa before the midterm elections in November. But his spokeswoman said that the embattled Democratic governor would not do so, citing the cost to taxpayers in the cash-strapped state.
"We have some serious concerns about the financial impact that a special election could have on the county level, especially because those counties are facing the same fiscal crisis that the state is facing," Maggie McKeon said in an e-mail to Gannett News Service.
Republicans saw Massa's Corning, New York-area seat as a likely GOP pickup that they hoped would have generate momentum for the party heading into the midterm elections. John McCain won the district over Barack Obama by a slim margin in 2008, and Republicans have a 46,000 edge in voter registration there, according to Hotline on Call. Massa lost in his run for the seat in 2006.
Paterson last year called two special elections. One was for the seat formerly held by Kirsten Gillibrand, who he appointed to the Senate; the other was for the seat previously held by John McHugh, now secretary of the Army. (That later election gave us the Doug Hoffman run that was seen as the first test of the Tea Party movement.)
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
BTTT.
BTTT.
29th District candidate Zeller points to family roots in Southern Tier
Check out the first sentence...
Matthew Zeller may not have had a permanent address in the 29th District until this month, but he took care to explain how his roots in the Southern Tier date back to the 1790s.
SNORT.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.