Politics

Republicans scramble to avoid another New York special election loss

Steven Nelson Associate Editor
Font Size:

Republicans in New York may again face defeat in a safe district filled by a special election. The 26th District, formerly represented by “Craigslist Congressman” Christopher Lee, will be electing a new congressman later this month.

Three candidates have substantial support in polling. Republican Jane Corwin, Democrat Kathleen Hochul and Jack Davis, who is running as a Tea Party candidate.

In a late April Siena poll, Corwin led with 36 percent of the vote to Hochul’s 31 percent. Davis, however, was supported by a significant 23 percent of respondents.

Republicans say that the Tea Party candidate is nothing more than a Democratic plant, chosen as a spoiler to confuse voters.

Corwin released an ad Thursday, calling voters’ attention to Davis’s past as a Democratic candidate for Congress. Corwin says that this puts her competitor in league with opponents of commonly accepted “Tea Party” ideals.

“Davis was a hand-picked candidate of Nancy Pelosi, and said he was proud to help her become speaker,” says the ad. “Davis took thousands of dollars from Barack Obama, and even endorsed his campaign for president.”

Davis ran in the district as a Democrat in 2004 and 2006. “Democrat Jack Davis, he just can’t be trusted,” says the ad.

In an ad of his own, Davis attacks both major parties for supporting free trade agreements, Wall Street bailouts, and corporate tax breaks.

“Now, to make us pay for it all, Republican Jane Corwin wants to replace Medicare with vouchers and Democrat Kathy Hochul wants to raise taxes again,” says Davis’ ad, promising that “independent Jack Davis will be a congressman for the rest of us, opposing trade deals, fighting for our jobs.”

Also running in the district is Buffalo Beast editor Ian Murphy, as a Green Party candidate. Murphy attracted national attention for impersonating David Koch on a call with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, but only polled at 1 percent support in the Sienna poll.

New York Democratic Sen. Kristen Gillibrand came out swinging for Hochul this week. In a fundraising letter to EMILY’s list supporters, Gillibrand said, “With Kathy on the ballot, Democrats have a real shot at cutting into the Republican House majority this year.”

Other national Democrats have kept Hochul at an arms length compared with the embrace that Corwin has received ahead of the May 24 election.

An internal Hochul campaign poll, reported by Politico Friday, shows an extremely close race with 31 percent support for Corwin, 30 percent for Hochul, and 26 percent for Davis.

The special election in poised to be a repeat of the 2009 special election in New York’s 23rd district, when the Republican vote was divided between liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava and Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, allowing for Democrat Bill Owens to win in the traditionally Republican district.

Jane Corwin ad attacking “Democrat Jack Davis”

Jack Davis ad attacking Corwin and Hochul:

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel