SARANAC LAKE—David Paterson said this is the lesson from Bill Owens’ win last night: Democrats can win anything.
“I thought it demonstrates a new way that the entire state is looking at candidates, and that the Democratic Party is demonstrating the type of responsibility I think both parties aspire to, but right now I Read More
ALBANY—It’s nearing the end of the race to replace John McHugh in Congress. A leading Democrat just told the party is “not going to leave anything on the table” to help Bill Owens.
My mind is returning to the special election in the 20th District this spring, where the final poll showed long-shot Scott Read More
ALBANY—The special election between Scott Murphy and Jim Tedisco last spring was, in many ways, a referendum on the federal stimulus package. So how’s it working out in the 20th District?
“Is there any?” asked Tory Mazzola, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, which attacked Murphy during the campaign. NRCC has been Read More
ALBANY—Assemblyman Jim Tedisco had some advice for his colleague Dede Scozzafava, who like he did last spring, is running in a special Congressional election: stay the course.
“Just keep working hard,” Tedisco told me by phone. “It’s always a battle when somebody tries to distort your record. The Democrats are very good at that. Read More
ALBANY—Assemblyman Jim Tedisco's Congressional campaign committee—which was just terminated after his failed bid against Scott Murphy this spring—failed to report more than $110,000 worth of contributions in its quarterly filing just before after the special election. The filings have since been amended.
Officials at the Federal Elections Commission sent two letters to Tedisco's Read More
ALBANY—In reporting this story about David Paterson's schedules, I spoke to Warren County Democratic Chairman Bill Montfort.
He took my call while in the basement of the county jail, where he–an elections commissioner–was inspecting voting machines. (He's another party chair who is not in Buffalo today; he said he's too busy with work.) Read More
ALBANY—Bill Owens has been to two fund-raisers outside his district in the last week.
Last Wednesday, he attended a $1,000-a-head fundraiser at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C. According to a person who was there, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Representatives Joe Crowley, Nita Lowey and Scott Murphy Read More
ALBANY—Bill Owens, the Democratic Party's candidate to replace John McHugh in Congress, is up on the air with his first advertisement.
It features pictures of Owens' ancestors set over shots of the candidate at the now-closed Plattsburgh Air Force Base. In addition to connecting Owens to the military–Fort Drum is in the district–it Read More
ALBANY—Wednesday night it was left-leaning demonstrators pushing him on health care. Today, Representative Scott Murphy is in the cross hairs of the National Republican Congressional Committee over the proposed health care restructuring.
The NRCC is sending robocalls to voters in the 20th district–where Murphy was elected this spring to succeed Kirsten Gillibrand–attacking Murphy's Read More
ALBANY—Unprompted, John T. Sullivan sent me an e-mail this morning.
"I know you already have me down as a B list candidate, so I can only assume that is because you know knowthing of my background, and experience. Let me try to correct that," he wrote.
And after I reached him on his cell phone, the Read More
