If the NY-23 election goes our way, New York will have only 2 Republican representatives in the House – NY-26 Chris Lee and NY-3 Peter King. Chris Lee looks vulnerable, and could be picked off.
But before we spend the winter relaxing and reading progressive blogs, be aware the Republicans are laying the groundwork for reclaiming some house seats.
And just as we’re planning to target NY-26’s freshman Chris Lee, NY Republicans are gearing up to go after OUR freshmen and vulnerable Democrats.
Follow me below the fold.
The New York Times has an article in Sunday’s paper:
.G.O.P. Gearing Up for 2010 House Races
The article features the districts where Republicans see a hope of recapturing a seat – some of them seats that flipped to Democrat between 2004 and 2008.
One target, John J. Hall (NY-19) is a two term Democrat in what is considered a swing district.
NY-24 Representative Michael A. Arcuri, is a target.
NY-29 Eric Massa, gave us a scare when a fund-raising letter he sent out sounded like he wasn’t going to run for re-election. He is running and has a Republican target on his back.
NY-20’s Scott Murphy is in the cross-hairs, although this district now has returned a Democrat to the house in the last 3 elections and may no longer by winnable by a Republican.
NY-1 (Eastern Long Island) Republicans are looking for a candidate to challenge Tim Bishop. Bishop is a 4 term incumbent, but this seat has bounced back between Democrats and Republicans since 1950.
NY-13 Michael E. McMahon, the first Democrat on Staten Island, is a freshman who won the seat after the incumbent was embarrassed by a DWI arrest, revelations about mistress and her child and so declined to run for re-election. Staten Island strongly leans Republican, so this could be a hard fought election.
The Times article didn’t mention NY-23, which is holding a special election in 2 weeks. Clearly, whoever wins this election will a be target in 2010 because the new incumbent will only be in office for 6 months before having to start running for his/her seat again.
On the plus side for us, our two Senators and top state offices are running in 2010. We should be helped by coat-tails and shared fund-raising to make a difference.