New York's 23rd congressional district had historically been one of the most Republican districts in the United States. The district's seat had been in Republican hands since 1873.[13] The far northern portion of the district—including the largest city,Watertown—had not been represented by a Democrat since the 1850s. The last non-Republican to represent some parts of the district had been aWhig.[14] McHugh was first elected in 1992, and was reelected eight times with over 60% of the vote, including running unopposed in 2002.
Although McHugh was consistently elected with over 60% of the vote, in recent years the district had been more competitive inUnited States presidential elections.George W. Bush narrowly carried the district in2004 againstJohn Kerry, 51% to 47%. However, Gore narrowly defeated Bush in what was then the 24th district in 2000,[15] repeatingBill Clinton's victory there in1996.Barack Obama defeatedJohn McCain in the district 52% to 47% in 2008.[16]
Democrats had also recently done well in the district at the state level. In a 2008 special election for New York's 48th State Senate district (which is coextensive with the northwestern portion of the 23rd congressional district and includes Watertown), Democratic AssemblymanDarrel Aubertine defeated heavily favored Republican AssemblymanWill Barclay. Aubertine became the first Democrat to represent what is now the 48th Senate district in over a century.[17]
On September 29, 2009,New York GovernorDavid Paterson issued a proclamation setting the special election to fill the vacancy for November 3, 2009, to coincide with the 2009 general election.[18][19] New York law does not provide for aprimary election in cases of a special election for a vacantHouse seat. Instead, each party's nominee is chosen by that party's county leaders within the district.[20]
Seven Republicans announced their intentions to run.[21] Three other Republicans[22][23][24] were considered potential candidates, but declined to run.
Assemblymember Dede Scozzafava was designated as the Republican nominee. On October 31, 2009, Scozzafava suspended her campaign[25] and, on November 1, 2009, endorsed the Democratic candidate for the seat.[26]
State Senator Darrel Aubertine, who represents most of the northern portion of the congressional district, was the most widely rumored potential Democratic candidate, but he declined.[27] State SenatorDavid Valesky, who represents most of the southern portion of the congressional district, initially said he was interested in running, but later decided against it.[22][28] Also declining to run was assemblywomanAddie Jenne Russell, whose district includes Watertown.
The chair of the New York Democratic Party stated that Scozzafava's husband had spoken with key local Democrats about the possibility of her switching to the Democratic Party before running for the seat.[29]
The party eventually selectedBill Owens, a military veteran and attorney from Plattsburgh.[30]
The Conservative Party chose Doug Hoffman as its nominee after three other potential candidates said they would support him,[31] even though Hoffman did not live in the district.[32] The Conservative Party declined to support the Republican Party's nomination of pro-choice, pro-same-sex-marriage, pro-union AssemblymemberDede Scozzafava, who Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long described as a "nice lady who is too liberal."[33]
Hoffman had previously sought the Republican nomination. In July, when Scozzafava was nominated instead, Hoffman offered to help her. His email to her read: "Hi Dede, Congratulations and the best of luck in your candidacy. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. Doug."[34] Shortly thereafter, however, he contacted Conservative Party leaders, seeking support for his own candidacy.[35] One Republican leader said that Hoffman, while seeking the Republican nomination, had "repeatedly" pledged to support the nominee.[36]
The chairman of theIndependence Party of New York announced that the party would have cross-endorsed Aubertine had he run,[37] but with his decision not to run, the party instead backed Scozzafava.[38] After she suspended her campaign, the state chairman of the party endorsed Bill Owens, though several local chairmen instead endorsed Hoffman.[39] Scozzafava remained on the ballot on the Independence Party line (as well as the Republican line).
TheWorking Families Party backed Owens. Under New York'sfusion rule, Owens's votes on the Democratic line and on the Working Families line were combined into a single total.
The race drew significant national attention because of the relatively large amount of support for a third-party candidate from the nationalconservative base. The Susan B. Anthony List embarked on a $100,000independent expenditure campaign for Hoffman.[40] Many notable Republicans, including formerVice Presidential nomineeSarah Palin, Republican GovernorTim Pawlenty of Minnesota and former U.S. SenatorFred Thompson, endorsed Hoffman rather than the Republican candidate because they deemed Scozzafava insufficiently conservative and ideologically indistinguishable from the Democrat.[41][42] Scozzafava also drew strong opposition from theTea Party movement, with national Tea Party leaderMichael Johns saying that his opposition to Scozzafava "was the first time in my 25-year political and policy career that I ever opposed a Republican candidate."[43][better source needed]
The Hoffman campaign ran television advertisements depicting Scozzafava and Owens as "two peas in a liberal pod."[44] Hoffman indicated support for tax cuts,[45] and support for criminalization of abortion, as well as opposition to same-sex marriage, the Obama health reform proposal,[46] card-check legislation,[47] and cap-and-trade legislation.[48]
Scozzafava's record in the New York State Assembly included votes in favor of same-sex marriage,[49] and she had also received an award from a Planned Parenthood affiliate in 2008.[50][51] Scozzafava's political positions included support for "card check" legislation,[47] support for federal funding for abortion,[52] support for President Obama's 2009 stimulus package,[53] and a refusal to rule out support for health care reform that includes a "public option."[54] WhileBill Owens did not favor public funding for abortion, he did support President Obama's 2009 stimulus package[53] and "card check" legislation.[47]
An October 1, 2009, poll by theSiena Research Institute put Hoffman in third place with 16% support, behind Scozzafava with 35% and Owens with 28%.[55] However, a Siena poll released two weeks later indicated that Owens led Scozzafava by four percentage points and Hoffman by 10%.[56] Polls taken a few days before the election showed Scozzafava's support collapsing; an October 31 poll showed Scozzafava trailing both Hoffman and Owens by 15% and 16%, respectively.[57]
Scozzafava suspended her campaign on October 31.[25][58] In response to the Scozzafava withdrawal, theRepublican National Committee (RNC), which had strongly backed Scozzafava's candidacy, issued a statement applauding her decision and announcing it was now supporting Hoffman.[3] National Democrats immediately began a "vigorous effort" to convince Scozzafava to endorse Owens. On November 1, Scozzafava endorsed Democratic nominee Owens.[4]
FormerSpeaker of the HouseNewt Gingrich, while having initially supported the GOP nominee,[59] remarked that he was "deeply upset" about her endorsement of Owens after Scozzafava's withdrawal from the race.[60] RNC ChairmanMichael S. Steele questioned party leaders in upstate New York for using a committee process to select a congressional candidate. "Maybe you should have a primary the next time instead of having 11 guys in a room sit around and select your nominee," said Steele.[3] TheNew York Republican Party issued a statement saying Scozzafava's endorsement was a "betrayal" of the party and said "In contacting Scozzafava, the Obama White House has once again played its Chicago-style politics here in New York."[26]
OnElection Day, police were called to at least two polling sites inSt. Lawrence County following "overzealous electioneering" by supporters of Hoffman.[64] Later, Hoffman accused the Democratic Party of "bringing inACORN" and trying to "steal this election away from the 23rd district", asserting that a campaign volunteer's tires had been slashed.[65]Anton Troianovski ofThe Wall Street Journal later quoted Captain Michael Branch of the Plattsburgh City Police Department as saying "This was not a tire slashing—this was some guy who drove over a bottle and cut his tire."[66]
† Poll commissioned by Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman ‡ Poll commissioned by the Club for Growth, which endorses Doug Hoffman § Poll commissioned by the Minuteman PAC, which endorses Doug Hoffman
OnElection Day, Owens appeared to defeat Hoffman, with the margin of defeat initially reported as 49% to 45%. Although Hoffman initially conceded, an initial re-canvass resulted in a Hoffman gain of approximately 2,000 votes before military and absentee ballots were further factored in. Poll inspectors reported Mr. Hoffman had inadvertently received zero votes in four districts.[160]
With absentee ballots having yet to be tallied, the results of the election could not be officially certified by theState of New York, though Owens was sworn in based upon unofficial results.[161] Owens was seated in time to vote "yea" on theAffordable Health Care for America Act on November 7, 2009.[162]
Hoffman withdrew his concession on November 17, 2009.[163] On November 18, in a letter posted on his campaign website, Hoffman declared that "ACORN, the unions and Democratic Party ... tampered with the ballots of voters in NY-23."[164] Jerry O. Eaton, Jefferson County Republican elections commissioner, called Hoffman's assertion "absolutely false".[165] On November 19, theGouverneur Times alleged that a computer virus had "tainted" results and "cast doubt on the accuracy of the counts retrieved from any of the machines."[166] John Conklin, director of public information for the NY State Board of Elections, stated that "the article ... unfortunately quoted a single word from a commissioner who mischaracterized the issue in question."[167] Hoffman later retracted his accusations.
With the tallying of absentee-ballots near completion, on November 20, 2009, Owens' lead over Hoffman surpassed the total number of absentee ballots left, making it mathematically impossible for Hoffman to win.[166] On November 24, Hoffman ended his campaign, stating, "it is with a heavy heart that we declare this election over. We will formally end this election and not ask for a recount."[168] The final election results showed that Owens prevailed by a margin of 48% to 46%.[169]
Owens was later re-elected to Congress in 2010 and 2012.
A week after the 2009 election, Scozzafava was stripped of her Republican leadership position in the State Assembly.[170] After Scozzafava's unsuccessful congressional campaign, she acknowledged that her name had begun being used as a verb: "scozzafavaed."[171][172] Commentator Chris Good described the term as follows: "The gist, basically, is that if you're a moderate Republican and the conservative wing of the GOP sets out to get you, and does, you got Scozzafavaed."[173] In April 2010, Scozzafava announced that she would not run for re-election to the New York State Assembly in November 2010.[174] In January 2011, Scozzafava was appointed New York Deputy Secretary of State for Local Government by Democratic GovernorAndrew M. Cuomo.[175]
While some observers called the race "a referendum on PresidentBarack Obama" and "a fight over the identity of the Republican Party",[6][7] others saw "a victory for populist conservatism".[176] One commentator stated that "Hoffman's third-party candidacy is striking for how much it has galvanized the Republican Party's base."[177] According to one commentator, "[t]ea party conservatives see the GOP loss as a victory for conservativism over mere political party loyalty. They’re describing the defeat as a warning shot fired in defense of principle."[178] According toMarilyn Musgrave ofSusan B. Anthony List, "Republican party leaders in Washington should take the message of the campaign and the election seriously, that the Party base should not be taken for granted."[178] Elected officials and observers opined that Scozzafava's showing in the congressional race affected the New York State Senate's December 2, 2009, vote against same-sex marriage legislation.[10][11][12]
^abcAdam Nagourney; Jeremy W. Peters (October 31, 2009)."G.O.P. Moderate, Pressed by Right, Abandons Race".The New York Times.Archived from the original on April 7, 2013. RetrievedNovember 19, 2009.The Republican National Committee, which had strongly backed Scozzafava's candidacy, issued a statement applauding her decision and announcing it was now supporting Hoffman.
^abcMike McAndrew (November 1, 2009)."Republican Dede Scozzafava urges friends to vote for Democrat Bill Owens after exiting NY-23 House race".The Post-Standard. Syracuse, NY.Archived from the original on November 4, 2009. RetrievedNovember 19, 2009.One day after suspending her campaign, Republican Dede Scozzafava urged her supporters this afternoon in a private e-mail to vote for Democrat Bill Owens instead of Conservative Doug Hoffman for the 23rd Congressional District seat.
^After being notified of the vacancy, Paterson was legally required to issue a proclamation for a special election to be held between thirty and forty days thereafter, but New York law does not specify a timeframe within which such a proclamation must be issued."Gillibrand's House seat could be GOP opportunity".CNN. January 23, 2009. Archived fromthe original on December 8, 2014. RetrievedOctober 23, 2009.
^Weiner, Mark (October 16, 2009)."Newt Gingrich endorses Dede Scozzafava in NY-23 House race".The Post-Standard. Syracuse, NY: Advance Publications Inc.Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. RetrievedMay 20, 2010.In a major coup for her campaign, Republican Dede Scozzafava today will pick up the endorsement of Newt Gingrich...
^Seiler, Casey (October 7, 2009)."NRA endorses Scozzafava".Times Union.Archived from the original on December 12, 2009. RetrievedOctober 27, 2009.Dear Assemblywoman Scozzafava, On behalf of our four million members, the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund is proud to endorse your candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in the special election in New York's 23rd congressional district.
^Loesch, Dana (October 27, 2009)."Todd Akin Endorses Hoffman «". Thedanashow.wordpress.com.Archived from the original on November 13, 2012. RetrievedNovember 27, 2012.
^"STATEMENT OF CANVASS"(PDF).New York State Board of Elections.Archived(PDF) from the original on December 30, 2016. RetrievedJune 20, 2017.
^Seymour, Jude (November 13, 2009)."Vote: Hoffman closes in on Owens".Watertown Daily Times. Watertown, NY.Archived from the original on November 16, 2009. RetrievedNovember 17, 2009.Sean M. Hennessey, Jefferson County Democratic elections commissioner, said poll inspectors in four districts reported Mr. Hoffman had received zero votes after inadvertently reading the wrong line of the poll system's printout.
^Madsen, Nancy (November 4, 2009)."Owens takes election".Watertown Daily Times. Archived fromthe original on November 7, 2009. RetrievedNovember 4, 2009.
^Seymour, Jude (November 19, 2009)."Hoffman: ACORN, unions, Dems tampered with NY-23 election".Watertown Daily Times. Watertown, NY.Archived from the original on November 21, 2009. RetrievedNovember 19, 2009.Mr. Hoffman trails Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, by 2,832 votes after 42.6 percent of absentee ballots districtwide were reported Wednesday.
^abJude Seymour (November 20, 2009)."Hoffman lacks votes to catch Owens".Watertown Daily Times. Watertown, NY. Archived fromthe original on November 23, 2009. RetrievedNovember 20, 2009.As Mr. Owens' victory became certain, the Gouverneur Times alleged Thursday that a computer virus had "tainted" results and "cast doubt on the accuracy of the counts retrieved from any of the machines."
^Jude Seymour (November 20, 2009)."State elections official: Gouverneur Times is "full of inaccurate information"".Watertown Daily Times. Watertown, NY. Archived fromthe original on December 31, 2009. RetrievedNovember 20, 2009.John Conklin, the board's director of public information said: "There was no virus in the voting machines on Election Day in the 23rd District or anywhere else. The article is full of inaccurate information and unfortunately quoted a single word from a commissioner who mischaracterized the issue in question."
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