The districts with congressional races not forecast as "safe" for the incumbent party were New York's congressional districts13,19,20,24,25,26 and29.
The Democratic Party gained three seats in New York's congressional delegation in the 2008 elections. In New York's 13th congressional district, DemocratMichael McMahon defeated Robert Straniere to win the seat vacated by Republican Rep.Vito Fossella. In New York's 25th congressional district, DemocratDan Maffei defeated Republican Dale Sweetland to win the seat vacated by Republican Rep.Jim Walsh. In New York's 29th congressional district, DemocratEric Massa defeated incumbent Republican Rep.Randy Kuhl.[1] Beginning in 2009, New York's congressional delegation consisted of a lopsided 26 Democrats and 3 Republicans. In the history of New York state politics, this represents the best performance by any one party, as a proportion of total seats, in state history. Republicans suffered in the fallout of the financial crisis, but regained seats in the following elections.
The 1st district is based on the eastern end and North Shore of Long Island, including the Hamptons, the North Fork, Riverhead, Port Jefferson, Smithtown, and Brookhaven, all in Suffolk County. Due to redistricting, the district lost minimal territory, instead picking up more territory around the towns of King's Park and Smithtown from the 2nd district. The 1st district has a PVI of R+3 but voted forBarack Obama by 4 points in the concurring presidential election. The incumbent isDemocratTim Bishop, who was reelected with 62.23% of the vote in 2006.[2] On election day, Bishop defeatedRepublican nomineeLee Zeldin who would then defeat him in arematch six years later.
The 2nd district is based on the western end and North Shore of Long Island, including Huntington, Northport, Islandia, Half Hollow, West Hills, and parts of Islip, all in Suffolk and Nassau Counties. Due to redistricting, the district lost substantial territory, losing most of Lindenhurst, Islip, and portions of the South Shore to the 3rd district while gaining more territory on the North Shore around Huntington and portions of Nassau County. The 2nd district has a PVI of R+3 but voted forBarack Obama by 3 points in the concurring presidential election. The incumbent isDemocratSteve Israel, who was reelected with 70.42% of the vote in 2006.[2] On election day Israel defeatedRepublican nominee Frank Stalzer.
Steve Israel, incumbent U.S. Representative since 2001, former member of theHuntington Town Council, and former staff member for U.S. RepresentativeRichard Ottinger
The 3rd district is based on the Gold Coast and Jones Beach portion of Long Island, including Glen Cove, Oyster Bay, Long Beach, Massapequa, Brookville, and parts of Islip, all in Suffolk and Nassau Counties. Due to redistricting, the district gained a large amount of territory, gaining in the southern portion of Nassau County around East Rockaway as well as a new portion of the district in Suffolk County, gaining Lindenhurst, Babylon, and portions of Islip, but lost areas around Interstate 495 in Plainview. The 3rd district has a PVI of D+2 but voted forBarack Obama by 8 points in the concurring presidential election. The incumbent isRepublicanPeter King, who was reelected with 56.04% of the vote in 2006.[2] On election day King defeatedDemocratic nominee Graham Long.
The 4th district is based on the Nassau South Shore and central Nassau portion of Long Island, including Mineola, Garden City, East Rockaway, Valley Stream, Freeport, and parts of Long Beach, all in Nassau County. Due to redistricting, the district gained a small amount of territory in the southern portion of Nassau County around East Rockaway and Freeport but lost areas around Levittown. The 3rd district has a PVI of D+5 but voted forBarack Obama by 11 points in the concurring presidential election. The incumbent isDemocratCarolyn McCarthy, who was reelected with 64.92% of the vote in 2006.[2] On election day McCarthy defeatedRepublican nomineeJack Martins.
The 5th district is based on the Nassau North Shore and Flushing portion of Queens County, including Manhorhaven, Kings Point, Great Neck, East Hills, Corona, and parts of Jamaica, in Nassau and Queens counties. Due to redistricting, the district was compacted and shifted towards Queens, losing most of its territory on the North Shore, including portions of the cities of Smithtown and Huntington as well as territory in the surrounding communities. The 5th district has a PVI of D+30 but voted forBarack Obama by 27 points in the concurring presidential election. The incumbent isDemocratGary Ackerman, who was reelected with 100.00% of the vote in 2006.[2] On election day Ackerman defeatedRepublican nominee Elizabeth Berney.
IncumbentJoe Crowley had served in Congress since 1999 representing heavily Democratic areas of the Bronx and Queens. He was easily re-elected against token opposition.
IncumbentJerry Nadler had served in Congress since 1992 representing heavily Democratic areas of Manhattan. He was easily re-elected against token opposition.
IncumbentAnthony Weiner was originally elected in 1998 in this heavily Democratic district representing parts of Brooklyn and Queens. He was easily re-elected against no Republican opposition.
Republican incumbentVito Fossella announced his retirement on May 20, 2008, leaving this an open seat. Democratic City CouncilmanMichael McMahon, endorsed by the Staten Island Democratic Party[9] won the primary against Steve Harrison, who lost to Fossella in 2006. Republican Robert Straniere defeated Dr. Jamshad Wyne in the Republican primary. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Democrat Favored'. McMahon defeated Straniere in the general election.[1]
Democratic incumbentJohn Hall was challenged by RepublicanKieran Lalor. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Democrat Favored'. Hall won the election with 59% of the vote.[10]
Democratic incumbentKirsten Gillibrand was challenged by RepublicanSandy Treadwell. CQ Politics forecast the race as 'Leans Democratic.' Gillibrand won easily.[1]
This was incumbent DemocratKirsten Gillibrand's first run for re-election, and was one of the most expensive House races in the nation, with both campaigns spending a total of more than $9 million.[11] Gillibrand had defeated RepublicanCongressman John Sweeney in an upset in 2006.
Representative Gillibrand faced businessmen Morris Guller in the Democratic primary due, it was said, to her support for a supplemental appropriation for the Iraq conflict.[12] Gilibrand won the primary by a wide margin.
Those who would have run in the 2008 Republican primary to face Gillibrand had there been one:[13]
Lt. Colonel Michael Rocque, US Army (retired)
Sandy Treadwell, former New York Republican State Committee chairman
John Wallace, New York State Police (retired)
Treadwell, with the backing of the State Conservative Party and the GOP,filed Requests for Judicial Intervention to disqualify Wallace and Rocque from the primary. He succeeded, and became the sole opponent of Kirsten Gillibrand. Gillibrand faced Republican Sandy Treadwell, former Secretary of State for New York.[14] On October 10, 2008, theCook Report listed the 20th District as "Likely Democratic". Gillibrand won the November 4, 2008, election with 62% of the vote to Treadwell's 38%.
The 21st district is based in the Capital Region, including Albany, Troy, Schenectady, Guilderland, Johnstown, Amsterdam, Colonie, Cohoes, and Waterford. It includes all of Albany, Schenectady, Schoharie, Montgomery counties, and parts of Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Fulton Counties. Due to redistricting, the district gained a large amount of territory, gaining the entirety of Schoharie and Montgomery Counties, as well as the cities of Johnstown and Gloversville, and territory in southern Rensselaer County around East Greenbush and Castleton-On-The-Hudson. The 21st district has a PVI of R+9 but voted forBarack Obama by 18 points in the concurring presidential election. The incumbent isDemocratMichael McNulty, who was reelected with 78.19% of the vote in 2006.[2] He is retiring. On election day, Tonko defeatedRepublican nominee Jim Buhrmaster.
The 23rd district is based in the North Country and the Adirondack Mountains, including Plattsburgh, Potsdam, Fort Drum, Watertown, Oswego, and parts of Saranac Lake. It includes all of Clinton, Franklin, St. Lawrence, Hamilton, Lewis, Jefferson, Oswego, and Madison counties and parts of Fulton, Oneida, and Essex counties. Due to redistricting, the district was renumbered from the 24th to the 23rd and changed a small amount of territory, gaining in portions of Essex County around the Adirondack Mountains as well as a new portion of the district in Oneida County, gaining the towns around the cities of Rome and Utica, and gained the entirety of Madison County, but lost its portion of Herkimer County entirely and the cities of Gloversville and Amsterdam in Fulton County. The 23rd district has a PVI of R+2 but voted forBarack Obama by 1 point in the concurring presidential election. The incumbent isRepublicanJohn McHugh, who was reelected with 63.15% of the vote in 2006.[2] On election day, McHugh defeatedDemocratic nominee Michael Oot.
The 24th district is based in central New York and parts of the Finger Lakes region, including Rome, Utica, Oneonta, Norwich, Auburn, and parts of Binghamton. It includes all of Herkimer, Cortland, Chenango, and Seneca counties and parts of Tompkins, Tioga, Broome, Ontario, Otsego, and Oneida counties. Due to redistricting, the district was renumbered from the 23rd to the 24th and changed large amounts of territory, gaining the entirety of Cortland, Herkimer, and Seneca Counties. The district lost all of its territory in Schoharie, Delaware, and Montgomery counties and lost portions of Oneida county north of the city of Rome. The district now has territory stretching into western New York, gaining portions of Cayuga, Tioga, Tompkins, and Ontario counties. The 24th district has a PVI of R+11 but voted forBarack Obama by 3 points in the concurring presidential election. The incumbent isDemocratMichael Arcuri, who was elected with 53.95% of the vote in 2006.[2] On election day, Arcuri defeatedRepublican nomineeRichard Hanna.
Republican incumbentJames T. Walsh retired, leaving this an open seat. DemocratDan Maffei ran against RepublicanDale Sweetland who won in a crowded primary race, and frequent candidateHowie Hawkins (who used the "Green Populist" label).[23] CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Leans Democratic'. Maffei won the election.[1]
Maffei defeated Sweetland decisively, 55% to 42%, becoming the first Democrat to represent the district since 1981.[24] On January 24, 2008, Republican incumbentJim Walsh announced he would not be running for an eleventh term. Walsh's 2006 Democratic challengerDan Maffei had already announced his candidacy to challenge the seat in 2008, and had mounted a strong campaign. In March 2008, after DemocraticSyracuseMayorMatt Driscoll announced he would not be running for the seat, Maffei was virtually assured of the Democratic nomination, and ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on September 9. After it appeared he might run unopposed in the general election, on April 2 RepublicanDale Sweetland, coming off a narrowly unsuccessful September 2007 bid for Onondaga County Executive, announced he'd oppose Maffei. Other Republicans followed suit, but Sweetland won the crowded primary and received the party nomination in May 2008.
Maffei was heavily favored to win the seat, and lead heavily in campaign contributions.[25] In addition to rating the district as "Leans Democratic",RealClearPolitics ranked this as the third most likely Congressional district to switch parties.[26] Going into the election, other pundits fromCQ Politics,The Cook Report, and theRothenberg Report are also ranking it as "Lean Democrat" to "Democrat Favored".[27] In May 2008, and again on June 20, 2008,The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza, author of "The Fix", ranked the race as the #1 Congressional race to turn over from a "Red" seat to a "Blue" seat 2008.[28][29] Although Walsh had held it without serious difficulty before his near-defeat in 2006, the 25th had swung heavily to the Democrats at most other levels since the 1990s. The last Republican presidential candidate to carry the district wasGeorge H. W. Bush in 1988. On November 4 Maffei defeated Sweetland, 55% to 42%.[24] He will be the first Democrat to represent the area since 1981 (when it was the 32nd District).
Republican incumbentThomas M. Reynolds retired, leaving this an open seat. In an upset victory, Amherst environmental lawyerAlice Kryzan won the Democratic primary against Iraq War veteran Jonathan Powers and maverick millionaire Jack Davis. The Republican nominee was businessman Christopher Lee.[30] CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Leans Republican'. Lee prevailed.[1]
Republican businessmanChristopher J. Lee (R) won the seat running against Democratic lawyer Alice Kryzan (148,607 to 109,615), even though several analysts rated the race as a toss-up or leaning Democratic.[31][32][33]
Alice Kryzan, an environmental attorney, won the Democratic party primary election on Tuesday, September 9, 2008. She ran againstJon Powers, an Iraq war vet and the endorsed Democratic candidate, as well as wealthy industrialistJack Davis. The primary was notable for its large negative ad content, most heavily by self-financed Davis against Powers. Kryzan upset the conventional wisdom with a surprise win, partially on the strength of a last-minute TV ad characterizing the other two candidates as squabbling. A major selling point Kryzan used was that both of her primary rivals were former Republicans. Powers remained on theWorking Families Party ballot line despite endorsing Kryzan and attempting to get himself removed after having moved out of state. The Republican party brought a lawsuit to prevent the line from being given to Kryzan.[34] However, the presence of Powers on the ballot made no difference to the outcome of the race as the number of votes his ballot line received was much smaller than the margin of victory for Lee. Republican Chris Lee was the only candidate running for the party nomination and was endorsed by incumbent RepresentativeTom Reynolds. Operatives within the party also reportedly tried to recruit several other high-profile candidates, includingWIVB-TV anchor Don Postles, a registered independent, which led to Postles having to issue an on-air rejection of their efforts.
DemocratBrian Higgins easily defeatedIndependence Party candidate Dan Humiston. The Republicans did not put forth a candidate, instead cross-endorsing Humiston. Higgins won the general election.[1]
Two-term incumbentRandy Kuhl (R) had been elected to Congress with 52% of the popular vote over Democratic candidateEric Massa in a two-way race in 2006. In March 2006, citing his frustration with actions at the in-patient mental health care hospital at theCanandaigua VA center, former Democratic candidate, and a long-time friend of 2004 presidential candidate GeneralWesley Clark, Eric J.J. Massa filed to run as the Democratic candidate again in 2008.[36] In May 2007,Pittsford businessman David Nachbar, a senior vice-president ofBausch & Lomb, also announced his candidacy as a Democratic candidate for the same seat. As of a post on April 18, 2007, from Massa onDailyKos, theDCCC placed a requirement on their support for any candidate relied upon that candidate having $300K cash-on-hand by the end of the second quarter 2007 (June 30).[37] In August 2007, Nachbar announced that he was withdrawing from the race, with news reports stating that a letter to supporters suggest his role as Senior VP of Human Resources for Bausch & Lomb during a buyout via hedge fund Warburg Pinkus rendered him unable to campaign effectively.[38] Prior to Nachbar's announcement, Massa's campaign announced in a press release, that he had received all of the County endorsements of the 29th District and all of the townships in Monroe County, but had yet to secure the Monroe Democratic Committee endorsement.[39]
A native of the 29th District, Congressman Randy Kuhl has lived in the area all of his life. The son of a doctor and a nurse/teacher, Randy was born in Bath, picked grapes and worked inside the wineries on the shores of Keuka Lake, attended school in Hammondsport, had summer jobs in construction and on several different farms during his college years. He owned and operated a business in Bath, became Steuben County attorney, then successfully ran for the New York State Assembly in 1980, the New York State Senate in 1986, and the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004 where he now serves and represents the people of the 29th District. Randy Kuhl is a graduate of Hammondsport Central School, and earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Union College (1966), and in 1969 received his Juris Doctor fromSyracuse University College of Law. He is a communicant of St. James Episcopal Church and has been active in the Hammondsport Rotary Club and BPOE 1547 in Bath. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Five Rivers Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Branchport Rod and Gun Club, and the executive committee of the Steuben County Republican Committee. He is President of the Board of Directors of the Reginald Wood Scouting Memorial and an immediate past member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Manufacturing and Technology. Randy Kuhl currently lives in Hammondsport and is the father of three sons.
Eric Massa was the Democratic nominee in 2006. He attended theU.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and went on to serve in the Navy for 24 years. He eventually served as aide to formerNATO Supreme Allied Commander, GeneralWesley Clark. Near the end of his Navy career he was diagnosed withNon-Hodgkin lymphoma, a disease he was able to survive. Aformer Republican, he claims he left his party over the issue of theIraq War and campaigned in New Hampshire during the campaign of his former-boss,Wesley Clark's, failed presidential bid. During the 2006 campaign, Massa positioned himself as strongly opposed to the Iraq war and unrestricted "free trade," favoring instead "fair trade". Other issues in his platform included expanding farm aid programs, as well as bringing homeland security money to the 29th District. Massa is also active in Band of Brothers/Veterans for a Secure America whose goal is to help veterans who are running for Congress as Democrats. Massa has recently worked as a "business consultant" forStrategic Insight, a defense consulting firm inAlexandra, Virginia. Massa,during a press conference in June, 2007, stated that he has since "curtailed all other activities in April (2007) when he became an active candidate". Massa lives inCorning, New York, with his wife Beverly, daughter Alexandra and son Justin. His eldest son Richard lives in California.
David Nachbar isBausch & Lomb's senior vice president for Human Resources.[40] He was named to this post in October 2002.[40] Nachbar joined Bausch & Lomb fromThe St. Paul Companies, Inc., where he was senior vice president for Human Resources.[40] Previously, he was vice president for Human Resources and chief of staff for Asia forCitibank. He also heldHuman Resources posts withPepsiCo andTime Warner.[40] In 1996, Nachbar ran forNew York State Senate as a Democrat and was unsuccessful. Nachbar received a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Labor Relations fromCornell University in 1984.
On August 21, 2008, Massa attended a Kuhl press conference in the Corning City Hall. After the press conference ended, the two candidates spoke for a minute in the hallway. Massa challenged Kuhl to schedule debates and criticized him for not having accepted debate invitations from community leaders. After Massa left, Kuhl said he had not had time to schedule a debate. Kuhl later issued a press release which criticized Massa for being "disrespectful" at the event, which Kuhl said "was not campaign related". Councilman Dane Kane, a Democrat who also attended the press conference, joined in Massa's criticism, saying, "Kuhl has stopped his town hall meetings, won't take questions from the public, and refuses to respond to invitations to debate the issues of the day."[41]
Party gains
District results
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