Yes, it appears that Bill Owens clung to the 23rd House district seat.\u00a0 And yes, Democrats won some marquis races, holding the Governor’s mansion, and walking away with both US Senate seats.<\/p>\n
But it was Republicans who stormed back in key House battles across the state, from John Hall’s 19th district seat in the lower Hudson Valley to Scott Murphy’s surprisingly big drubbing in the 20th district.<\/p>\n
Mike Arcuri was also toppled in NY-24.\u00a0 In the process, the Democrats lost a couple of politicians widely viewed as rising young stars.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the GOP is poised to win a statewide race — the first since George Pataki’s last victory — with Harry Wilson locked in a dead head with incumbent Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.<\/p>\n
What does it all mean?<\/p>\n
Clearly, the national mood altered the landscape everywhere in the US, not least here in Upstate and Northern New York.<\/p>\n
The question now is whether these districts will remain competitive or whether the GOP will establish once again the kind of firm grip that they once enjoyed in the region.<\/p>\n
The surprising margin in NY-20 — with Gibson breaking away from Murphy — suggests that Democrats have a lot of work to do.<\/p>\n
But it’s also increasingly clear that Republicans, Conservatives and tea party activists in NY-23 squandered an incredible political opportunity.<\/p>\n
The first-glance impression is that Doug Hoffman once again appears to have played something of a spoiler role, but I think it’s more complicated than that.<\/p>\n
Deep, venomous, and personal divides now exist between the moderate and conservative wings of the GOP in the 23rd district. Hoffman is only one piece of that feud.<\/p>\n
Until they sort out the mess, Democrats will continue to overperform here.<\/p>\n
As always, your thoughts welcome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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