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..."I am supporting Bill Owens for Congress and urge you to do the same," she said. "In Bill Owens, I see a sense of duty and integrity that will guide him beyond political partisanship. He will be an independent voice devoted to doing what is right for New York. Bill understands this district and its people, and when he represents us in Congress he will put our interests first."...

Republican Dede Scozzafava endorsed her former Democratic opponent Sunday in the race for an upstate New York congressional seat, one day after Scozzafava dropped out of the contest. Scozzafava dropped out after Conservative Party candidate Dough Hoffman experienced a late-in-the-game surge. But on Sunday, Scozzafava backed Democrat Bill Owens -- the announcement was made in a statement send out by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "I am supporting Bill Owens for Congress and urge you to do the same," she said. "In Bill Owens, I see a sense of duty and integrity that will guide him beyond political partisanship. He...

I want to personally thank Republican Dede Scozzafava for acting so selflessly today in the NY District 23 race. Now it's time to cross the finish line with Doug Hoffman so that he can get to work for District 23 and the rest of America. With Congress poised to overhaul one-sixth of our economy with so-called health care “reform” (which is really a government takeover of health care) and with plans to enact a cap-and-tax bill just as our economy struggles to recover, Doug Hoffman will be a voice for fiscal responsibility and common sense in Washington. We need candidates...

An interesting thing happened on the way to the congressional election in New York's 23rd district. The Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, dropped out of the race. This bodes well for the Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, who, as it turns out happens to be a Republican who ran on a third party ticket against Scozzafava and the Democrat Bill Owens. This is a fascinating race to watch, because it forces those in the Republican Party to take a hard look at what has become of the GOP. In the last few weeks, there has been a huge rift within the...

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele says the committee is endorsing the conservative in New York’s 23rd Congressional District race after Republican Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava suspended her campaign and released her supporters. Calling Scozzafava’s move a “selfless act,” Steele says the RNC’s change of course is effective immediately and will include financial backing and get out the vote efforts for Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman.

Under pressure from conservative forces within her own party, Dede Scozzafava, the regular Republican nominee in the interim House race for New York's 23d District, suddenly withdrew from the race today. Though endorsed by the Republican National Committee and big GOP establishment names like ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Scozzafava had fallen to third place in polls of the upstate longtime Republican district next to the Canadian border. Her retreat came in the face of a vigorous campaign by Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, who was backed by Sarah Palin, Dick Armey and Fred Thompson, among others. Her surprise move sets...

I've had it with progressive media outlets out there talking up third parties as the route for conservatives. Please tell me that all of you see through this. We here on FR have to be largely immune to these attempts at misdirection by the media. Here is one example: The Doug Hoffman Effect Strikes in Two Key Races for GOP With Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman running neck and neck with the Democrat in Tuesday’s special election in New York, some other disaffected Republicans are seeing the third-party route as more viable. Here is the clinton news network doing it,...

Base sends GOP warning shot in NY-23 By: Jonathan Martin and Alex Isenstadt October 31, 2009 07:43 PM EST Republican Dede Scozzafava’s decision Saturday to drop out of the New York special congressional election gave conservatives a big win, but may present a challenge for Republicans heading into next year's mid-term elections. The long-term implications from Scozzafava’s Halloween surprise will depend on what lessons Republicans take from the race, where Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman now seems poised to consolidate center-right support and win the seat previously held by Republican John McHugh, who resigned to become President Obama’s Secretary of...

I want to personally thank Republican Dede Scozzafava for acting so selflessly today in the NY District 23 race. Now it's time to cross the finish line with Doug Hoffman so that he can get to work for District 23 and the rest of America. With Congress poised to overhaul one-sixth of our economy with so-called health care “reform” (which is really a government takeover of health care) and with plans to enact a cap-and-tax bill just as our economy struggles to recover, Doug Hoffman will be a voice for fiscal responsibility and common sense in Washington. We need candidates...

Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) endorsed GOP special-election candidate Dede Scozzafava on Monday, saying a vote for her Conservative Party opponent is tantamount to a vote for the Democrats in the close 23rd Congressional District race in New York http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/63643-pete-king-a-vote-for-conservative-nominee-is-a-vote-for-dems

Significant battles sometimes take place in obscure places. Until the last month, New York's 23rd district was known mostly for its cold climate, its history of electing Republicans to the House and its relatively moderate politics. The GOP has held the district for more than a century. As a result of a surprise announcement on Saturday, Republicans are likely to continue to hold it for the time being. But the developments that put Republicans back in a stronger position to win a special House election on Tuesday will reverberate unpredictably far beyond the boundaries of the 23rd district. By the...

Hoffman worries some incumbents By Reid Wilson - 10/31/09 04:23 PM ET The ascendance of the Conservative Party nominee in a New York special election suggests that some centrist candidates may be at risk to conservative challengers, strategists and members of Congress said this weekend. Businessman Doug Hoffman, running on the Conservative Party line, has seen his support surge in recent weeks. On Saturday, Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, the Republican nominee in the district, said she is suspending her campaign, and national party leaders rushed to back Hoffman. Strategists said the new developments are a shot in the arm for the...

Congressional campaign in upstate New York could play a big role in the GOP's approach to the 2010 elections and beyond. What began as a little-noticed congressional campaign in upstate New York has become a high-profile battle for the direction of the Republican Party, and it could play a big role in the GOP's approach to the 2010 elections and beyond. With Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman mounting a serious challenge to moderate Republican Dede Scozzafava and Democrat Bill Owens, prominent Republicans are splitting support between Hoffman and Scozzafava, providing an unusually raw display of the party's divisions. Supporters of...

Lots of people want credit for Dede Scozzafava dropping out today. I feel like I have had a view from the inside. Lots of people are trying to give me credit for rallying the base since last July for Hoffman, but from my vantage point, there are four that are being overshadowed by Pataki, Pawlenty, and Palin, but who genuinely and truly deserve a hell of a lot more credit than most. Please though, remember these four: 1. Susan B. Anthony List. First in and last out, they have been under the radar for months. Before the tea party activists....

WASHINGTON (CNN)– Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who came under fire from some conservatives for endorsing Dede Scozzafava in next week's special Congressional election in New York, is now backing Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.

’m certainly happy to be a modern woman. The possibilities are numerous — career choices, children, freedom. Life is good. American women have all these things, yet there is a notable lack of women, both Democrat and Republican, in national political office. Why? Well, the job is demanding as hell and requires extended periods of separation, for one. Another reason: I’ll call it Sarah Palin Syndrome. Women, especially conservative women, are chewed up by the media. (This also happens to women bloggers. Related thoughts here.) Leftist feminists feel that conservative women disparage the very things feminists work for while enjoying...

With liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava suspending her campaign in New York’s 23rd congressional district, Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman tells NRO that he will reach out to her in the campaign’s final days in order to bring conservative voters together to defeat Democrat Bill Owens.

Hours after Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava bowed out of the NY-23 House race, top House GOPers are rallying together to support Doug Hoffman, her Conservative Party challenger. In a joint statement released Saturday afternoon, House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio), House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) and National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Pete Sessions (Texas.) announced they would support Hoffman's bid to defeat Democratic candidate Bill Owens in the race to fill former Rep. John McHugh's open seat. "As the House stands on the cusp of the forthcoming vote on a trillion-dollar healthcare reform measure, it is vital that...

With about 200 interviews down we had Hoffman 45 Owens 26 Scozzafava 17...her withdrawal will just make it that much easier for Hoffman Well that wrecks our NY-23 poll. We're finding Hoffman with more support than Owens and Scozzafava combined...explains the withdrawal

SCOZZAFAVA's DROPPING OUT: WHO DOES IT HELP? HOFFMENTUM! Dede Scozzafava is suspending her campaign in New York's 23rd Congressional District. From BREAKING: Scozzafava suspends NY 23 campaign: Republican Dede Scozzafava has suspended her bid in next Tuesday’s NY 23 special election, a huge development that dramatically shakes up the race. She did not endorse either of her two opponents -- Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman or Democrat Bill Owens. Scozzafava has “probably made her last campaign appearance between now and Election Day,” spokesman Matt Burns told POLITICO. “She’s releasing her support to the two other candidates." "I had a discussion...