The overriding story in the NY-26 special election today is the saga of indie candidate Jack Davis's tussle with a tracker... who turned out to be not a James O'Keefe style rogue, but a chief aide to Republican Jane Corwin. While it's still early to tell whether the critical mass of the implosion has transferred from Davis to Corwin over the last 24 hours, the tenor of the local media coverage seems to have pivoted so the blowback is spraying Corwin's direction.
Also trending today -- and a story that plays right in to Davis's trade-related criticisms of Corwin -- is a Think Progress expose of Corwin's investments; their look at her financial disclosures show that Corwin (who has a net worth of $158 million) has millions directly invested in at least 35 companies that have outsourced American jobs. Think Progress has one other ugly story out today, too: Corwin was one of only a few legislators to vote against the New York legislature's decision to prohibit shackling pregnant inmates while they're giving birth.
Even if you have $158 million to play with, $960,000 is a significant chunk of change, and that's how much Corwin just loaned her campaign, as her victory lap turns into a crawl to the finish line. That's on top of the $1 million that she already seeded her campaign with, out of pocket. Financial reports released yesterday show that Corwin also raised $202K in outside contributions, leaving her with $613K cash on hand going into the final weeks. That means Democrat Kathy Hochul actually outraised Corwin for the reporting period: she reported $218K, and National Journal says she also raised an extra $240K in the last week, since the report was filed. She also put in $250K of her own money, leaving her with a reported $173K CoH. Davis, of course, isn't soliciting contributions; he's loaned his campaign a total of $2.1 million.
Beltway Tea Party astroturfers FreedomWorks announced their late-in-the-game backing for Corwin yesterday; it's not clear whether their help will come in the form of money, boots on the ground, or both. On the Dem side, 1199 SEIU is wheeling out its army: they're putting up $60K for canvassing on Hochul's behalf.
Yesterday was also the lone debate between the candidates in Rochester, or at least between Hochul, Corwin, and an empty chair. (Davis noisily pulled out of the debate the day before, saying that both Hochul and Corwin were "lying about his record.") As expected, the Medicare-gutting Ryan budget took center stage at the debate, with Hochul attacking Republican arguments about preserving Medicare solvency as "scare tactics." As Corwin tried to put some daylight between herself and the budget, saying it "can be tweaked," Hochul pointed out it that it wasn't just a "proposal" anymore; it was already passed wholesale by the House.
Finally, the ad wars are now fully engaged; with American Crossroads entering the fray, advertising in the Buffalo and Rochester markets is reaching saturation levels. The new ad from the Corwin camp goes back to the classic playbook of the GOP's halcyon days of late 2010, trying to link Hochul to favored boogeyperson Nancy Pelosi. The DCCC's ad (with a buy of more than $200K) goes after both Corwin and Davis—fitting, as Hochul needs them both to drag each other down in order to shoot the gap in this GOP-leaning district.
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