Scott Murphy wins CD 20! -- Copake Politics and News

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Date Posted: 18:00:14 04/24/09 Fri
Author: Cody Hill
Subject:

Scott Murphy wins CD 20!

This is very good news for the state of New York and the United States in general. Congrats to Rep. Murphy and all who worked very hard to secure his victory!

Democrat Murphy wins House race after concession

By VALERIE BAUMAN, Associated Press Writer Valerie Bauman, Associated Press Writer – 2 mins ago

ALBANY, N.Y. – Almost a month after a special election in a heavily Republican congressional district, the Democratic candidate claimed victory Friday when his GOP opponent conceded in a race that focused attention on President Barack Obama's stimulus plan.

After the March 31 election in New York's 20th District, Democrat Scott Murphy and Republican Jim Tedisco were separated by a handful of votes with thousands of absentee ballots to be counted. For nearly four weeks, the lead flipped back and forth but Murphy's advantage started to grow this week and was more than 400 votes on Thursday.

Murphy, a venture capitalist multimillionaire from Missouri who has lived in New York for more than a decade, is the third straight Democrat to win the seat. He replaces Kirsten Gillibrand, who succeeded Hillary Rodham Clinton in the U.S. Senate after Clinton was chosen to be Obama's secretary of state.

"I can't wait to get to work," Murphy said in a statement.

Obama's $787 billion stimulus plan was an issue on the campaign trail. Tedisco attacked Murphy for supporting the plan, while Murphy criticized Tedisco for refusing to take a stance on the stimulus for most of the campaign, a misstep that ultimately hurt the veteran assemblyman.

In a statement, Tedisco congratulated Murphy and said he'd work with him in his role as a state assemblyman.

"It became clear that the numbers were not going our way and that the time had come to step aside and ensure that the next Congressman be seated as quickly as possible," he said. "In the interest of the citizens of the 20th Congressional District and our nation, I wish Scott the very best."

The diverse district stretches from the rural Adirondack Mountains, south of the Canadian border, to the mid-Hudson Valley, north of New York City. It has more than 196,000 registered Republicans compared with about 125,000 Democrats.

Nationwide, Republicans have taken a pounding in the past two election cycles and in New York, the pain has been acute. They lost three congressional seats in 2006 and three more last year, leaving just three Republicans in the 29-seat state delegation. They also lost the state Senate for the first time in four decades last November, and every statewide elected office is held by a Democrat.

Early on, Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele declared the 20th a top priority for 2009. For Republicans, victory would have given them a claim in the heavily Democratic Northeast.

Still, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions described the race as a symbolic victory for Republicans.

"We should not ignore some of the encouraging signs that came out of this race," Sessions said in a statement. "Just a few short months ago, President Obama carried this district and Kirsten Gillibrand won by an overwhelming margin against a well-funded challenger. For the first time in a long time, a Republican congressional candidate went toe-to-toe with a Democrat in a hard-fought battle over independent voters."

Democrats didn't waste any time celebrating and congratulating Murphy.

"Murphy fought through a tough race and showed the kind of tenacity and commitment to public service that will serve him and his constituents well in the Congress," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement.

Gillibrand and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen echoed the congratulations.

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