I sense a lot of wishful thinking in that article. Make no mistake, the Democrats will be very competitive in the NY-19, even if a Green Party candidate runs (and the main reason why the Green got 11% in NY-21 was because the RAT nominee was some filmmaker with no political experience that was dragged out at the next-to-last minute when Congressman Owens abruptly retired).
That being said, John Faso should be favored to hold the seat for the GOP, and Pete Lopez and Steve McLaughlin should be fine as well (although Lopez would be better than McLaughlin because he represents more of the district).
After a DCCC poll showed him down 20 points (I don’t know why they released those poll results), Assemblyrat Michael Cusick has decided not to run!
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/01/national_republicans_take_aim.html
Brooklyn Councilrat Vincent Gentile might be the rat favorite now.
According to Politics1.com and TheGreenPapers.com, conservative Republican John Faso has entered the contest to replace moderate (but pro-life) Republican Congressman Chris Gibson in NY-19. Faso has stong ties to the district (he served several terms in the state assembly for a seat centered in Columbia County and, if I’m not mistaken, wholly within the current lines of the NY-19), is experienced (not only did he serve in the assembly, he was the GOP minority leader), has good name ID and fundraising contacts (he was the GOP gubernatorial nominee in 2006), and is far more conservative than Chris Gibson without being out of touch with the district’s electorate.
The NY-19 is one of the least Republican in the nation to be represented currently by a Republican (Obama carried it 52.1% to 45.9%), so it won’t be an easy hold by any stretch, but John Faso may be our best possible candidate there. This is the first-tier candidate for whom I was hoping. Some other good candidates had been mentioned as potentially being interested, but I think that Faso’s announcement will clear the field for him on the GOP and Conservative Party sides (he likely will face a Democrat for the Independence Party nomination). I’m feeling pretty good about this seat now, and, if Faso gets elected, he will be a vast improvement in voting record over Chris Gibson.