For Republicans to stage a significant rally next year in Congress, they’ll have to do two things:<\/p>\n
1. Take back “their” red districts. These are congressional districts that Republicans lost during the 2008 Obama surge.<\/p>\n
2. Take back a bunch of purple districts. These are the House seats that are competitive, but where GOP candidates have a legitimate shot at unseating an incumbent or two.<\/p>\n
The must-do list certainly includes NY-20, now held by Democrat Scott Murphy from Glens Falls. He won a special election in the spring by a razor-thin margin.<\/p>\n
In 2006, now-Senator Kirsten Gillibrand won the seat in an upset after former Rep. John Sweeney flamed out in scandals.<\/p>\n
The GOP still holds a significant voter-registration edge and has a powerful grassroots infrastucture in the 20th district.<\/p>\n
But here’s the wrinkle: A little more than a year from election day, they still don’t have a candidate.<\/p>\n
That means no one building name recognition, raising money, building a team. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Murphy has built a campaign chest totaling more than half a million dollars and he continues to use congress-on-your-corner style constituent outreach to build voter loyalty.<\/p>\n