Free Republic

The race to fill a Capital Region congressional seat has turned into a multimillion-dollar affair. And the local news media is loving it. Republican Jim Tedisco, of Glenville, and Democrat Scott Murphy, of Glens Falls, are the two major-party candidates competing to fill the vacant seat in the state’s sprawling 20th congressional district, which covers part or all of six area counties. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) had held the seat before she was appointed to fill Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat. Through campaign donations and personal loans, Tedisco and Murphy each raised more than $1 million from Jan. 1 through...

Democrat Scott Murphy outraised Republican Jim Tedisco in the run-up to the March 31 special election, according to newly-released FEC fundraising reports. Murphy raised $900,000, and supplemented that total with a $250,000 loan to his campaign. Tedisco raised $830,000 and put in $200,000 of his own money. Murphy reported $444,000 on hand in his campaign account, while Tedisco banked $467,000. The reports cover the period between January 1 and March 11; the candidates weren’t selected until February. In a sign of the national attention the special election is receiving, Tedisco’s campaign received checks from the Michigan, Indiana and New Mexico...

Despite a considerable Republican enrollment advantage, the Democrat seeking to replace Kirsten Gillibrand in the 20th Congressional District has cut into his Republican opponent's lead in the race. According to new poll out today from Siena College, Scott Murphy of Glens Falls only trails Assemblyman Jim Tedisco of Schenectady 45 percent to 41 percent with less than three weeks to go before the March 31 special election. The phone survey of 712 likely voters was conducted March 9-10 and has a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points. The GOP holds the edge in voter enrollment in the district, which...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Republican James Tedisco leads Democrat Scott Murphy in the race for the 20th Congressional District seat Kirsten Gillibrand left for the U.S. Senate, according to a poll released Thursday. The Siena College poll reports Tedisco, the state Assembly's Republican leader, has a 46 percent to 34 percent lead over Scott Murphy, a venture capital manager...

ALBANY—Scott Murphy is a rich carpetbagger, out-of-touch with the needs of the average voters in the 20th Congressional District he hopes to represent because he actually grew up in Missouri. He hasn't even voted in recent elections. He was a lobbyist, for Pete's sake, taking his clients to the Cotton Bowl and lavishing them with expensive meals. As a "venture capitalist" he outsourced work overseas; that's probably why his campaign website isn't calling him "Mr. Jobs" anymore. Oh yeah: he cheats on his taxes—just like all those other Democrats, who have no problem voting to raise yours.As for Jim...

A new poll released by Jim Tedisco’s campaign suggests why Republicans rallied around his candidacy so quickly in the special election for Kirsten Gillibrand’s House seat. He’s well-known from his tenure as the Republicans’ state Assembly Leader, and well-liked — at least for now — by voters in New York’s 20th District. The poll, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, shows that a 51 percent majority of voters view Tedisco favorably, while 13 percent hold an unfavorable impression. His 64 percent name identification is quite high for a first-time congressional candidate. Tedisco holds an early lead over Democratic businessman Scott Murphy,...