GOP chooses Scozzafava as candidate
By NATHAN BROWN, Enterprise Staff WriterRepublican Party leaders in the 23rd Congressional District have chosen Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava of Gouverneur as their candidate for the seat long held by Rep. John McHugh.
Scozzafava, who was first elected to the state Assembly in 1998, was chosen out of a field of nine finalists, who met with party committee members and elected officials to make their case and answer questions four times in different parts of the 11-county district.
The party chairs met at Serge's Restaurant in Potsdam Wednesday afternoon. There were four ballots, said Franklin County Republican Chairman Jim Ellis; the fourth made the results unanimous.
Ellis said Franklin County Legislator Paul Maroun of Tupper Lake came in second in the first two rounds of balloting, and Watertown businessman Matt Doheny also did well.
For both Republicans and Democrats, the choice of a candidate in the yet-unscheduled special election is by a weighted vote of the county party chairs based on the number of people in the county who voted for the party's congressional candidate in the 2008 election. In the Assembly, Scozzafava represents all of Lewis County and parts of St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Oswego counties. Oswego County had the biggest share of the weighted vote with more than 19 percent, Jefferson had 18 percent, and St. Lawrence had about 16 percent.
"It's hard for the small counties to fight the size of the larger, weighted vote, but we did our best," Ellis said.
The Democrats extended a deadline for interested candidates to send in resumes from Friday until today. State Sen. Darrel Aubertine of Cape Vincent is widely considered the leading contender, but a number of others have expressed interest, including two former McHugh opponents: Mike Oot of Munnsville and Dan Francis of Watertown.
McHugh is still the seat's occupant until he is confirmed as Army secretary.
"I'm glad for Dede," Maroun said. "I wish her well in her campaign. Of course, I'm disappointed. I thought the eastern end of the district, with my candidacy, would have the chance to send a congressman to Washington."
Maroun also praised Ellis for helping to organize the series of meetings with the candidates, which, he said, was better than the process by which the Republican chairs chose a candidate in the 20th Congressional District earlier this year. They chose then-Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco without talking to the candidates, and he ended up losing to Democrat Scott Murphy.
"I congratulate Dede," Ellis said. "She'll be a fine representative. I disagree with her on many of her social views. That being said, let's see what we can do, and we'll support her."
Scozzafava supports gay marriage and abortion, positions further left of Aubertine. She has been endorsed by the Working Families Party in the past, which usually supports Democratic candidates, and not by the Conservative Party, which usually endorses Republicans.
The Independence Party has endorsed Scozzafava in the past, but Chairman Frank McKay has said he will endorse Aubertine if he runs.
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designer5
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07-26-09 9:07 AM
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The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 29% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -11. That’s the first time his ratings have reached double digits in negative territory (see trends). These updates are based upon nightly telephone interviews and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. Today is the first update based entirely upon interviews conducted after the President’s prime time televised press conference. The number who Strongly Approve of the President has remained unchanged since the press conference but the number who Strongly Disapprove has gone up by five percentage points (from 35% on Wednesday morning to 40% today).
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designer5
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07-24-09 11:12 AM
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Gee, rasmussen poll today says that obama dropped even more in his approval rating.
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FishCric
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07-24-09 9:45 AM
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yea I trust government. god I can not wait for the next big election.... bad time to be in office
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designer5
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07-24-09 7:53 AM
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postponed
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designer5
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07-24-09 7:52 AM
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Yeah, as soon as the vote on the health care reform was postposed, the stock market went up.
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uknowuluvme
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07-24-09 7:30 AM
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the reason it was so many democrats arrested is because so many democrats are in office now because of soooooo many republicans that have either been voted out or are currently serving time or have retired with all the money they made from the contracts on the war in lraq..they screwed the country for the last 8 years and now they want to blame it all on the democrats..have you noticed the stock market at its new 8 month high......
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designer5
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07-23-09 9:01 PM
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Dems must be proud. 10 out of 11 politicians arrested in NJ this morning were Democrats. Money laundering and federal corruption charges.
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Outlaw63446
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07-23-09 8:30 PM
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McHugh was a Republican in name only. I'm surprised that he ever got elected under that banner. He is obviously at least as liberal as the Democratic wackos in congress, or he wouldn't have been willing to trot off to his new job. This woman is obvioulsy another nut-case. With all the issues in this country today, she ranks homosexual marriage and abortion rights as priorities? Will we ever again get the chance to vote for a genuine, practical, ethical, hard-working individual that is not out to "re-make" America? My prediction is that this woman will not be elected. I think too many people, whether they call themselves Republicans or Democrats, or whatever, are tired of the arrogance of these characters that kow-tow to every known group just to feather their nests. She won't make it. There has to be a better candidate. I was happy to see McHugh go (and I am a registered Republican) but we may as well just leave the post empty as to elect useless individuals like this.
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adk777
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07-23-09 5:04 PM
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Yea, maybe the dope Limbaugh can run up here to appease all the neo-cons.
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tourist
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07-23-09 12:50 PM
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maybe McHugh should turn down the Army position and remain where he is rather than electing a Democrat to the open seat.
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FreedomFighter
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07-23-09 12:22 PM
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Dede is an extreme Liberal. Scozzafava supports gay marriage and abortion. She has been endorsed by the Working Families Party (socialist Workers Party) in the past. The Republican nomination of Scozzafava is a slap in the face to every conservative voter in the 23rd Congressional District. Since this will be a special election to fill out John McHugh’s current term this gives Conservative Votes the perfect opportunity to teach the Republicrates a lesson. Vote of anyone but Dede!
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FreedomFighter
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07-23-09 11:53 AM
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Someone needs to seek the Conservative Party nomination and run aginst Dede
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FishCric
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07-23-09 11:17 AM
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the only thing right now is the removal of palosi. they get a free ride and they better come back with dollars or don't come back at all. so to speak bahhhh
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designer5
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07-23-09 11:08 AM
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Well, maybe we'll get lucky in 2010 and an independent with a backbone will run.
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AntiLib
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07-23-09 10:43 AM
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McHugh leaves after Obumma bought his vote on TARP, with his appointment as Secretary of the Army. Now the Repubicans come back with a candidate more liberal than McHugh. Good luck comrades.
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tourist
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07-23-09 10:38 AM
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I agree. Congrats to the republicans for shooting themselves in the foot and handing the democrats another victory. Hold on to your wallets. I hope they get their act together for the 2010 elections.
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veritas
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07-23-09 10:24 AM
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This was a done deal almost from the moment McHugh's nomination was announced. Looks like the GOP has begun the process of handing the Dems another seat.
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