Free Republic

Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco emerged from today's meeting of Republican leaders from the 10 counties that form part of the 20th Congressional District with enough support to declare himself the party's chosen candidate. Tedisco bested former gubernatorial candidate John Faso as well as state Sen. Betty Little for the Republican slot in the upcoming special election to fill the U.S. House seat vacated this week by Kirsten Gillibrand's elevation to the U.S. Senate. Gillibrand was sworn in earlier today. Tedisco will be running in a majority-Republican district that Gillibrand, a Democrat, won twice. The Minority Leader will likely be...

NEW YORK - The two Republicans vying to challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton this fall tore into each other Wednesday in a debate dominated by angry accusations of personal and professional misconduct and abject dishonesty. From the early minutes of the hourlong forum sponsored by all news cable channel NY1, former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer found himself repeatedly on the defensive about his unconventional private life and its impact on his tenure as mayor from 1996 to 2004. While married to another woman, Spencer fathered two children with his then-chief of staff and substantially raised her salary. He eventually divorced...