Tonight at the state Republican convention in New York City, Essex County GOP chair Ron Jackson is thinking about pushing a no-confidence vote for state leader Ed Cox.<\/p>\n
“If the only thing stopping us from getting united is Mr. Cox, I probably will,” Jackson told the Glens Falls Post-Star on Monday<\/a>. “I’ll play it by ear, but I’d say it’s more likely than not.”<\/p>\n Cox, of course, is backing a Democrat, Suffolk county executive Steve Levy, in the governor’s race. Supporters of Rick Lazio, including Jackson, are furious.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, another North Country activist, tea party organizer Mark Barie, is stirring up the Republican world by backing Essex County accountant Doug Hoffman in the NY-23 race.<\/p>\n “[The GOP] is a party that has had difficulty organizing, difficulty raising funds,” Barie said<\/a>, “and a party that has had difficulty reading the minds and hearts of their own constituents, their own members.”<\/p>\n Most county GOP leaders are backing Watertown businessman Matt Doheny in the contest.<\/p>\n All the barbs and arrows being fired here in the region certainly make for interesting political theater, and no one is quite sure where it’s all going to lead.<\/p>\n