Democrat Kathy Hochul Beats Republican Jane Corwin in New York's 26th District
by:
Tanya Somanader , ThinkProgress
| Report
Last night, Kathy Hochul, the Democratic candidate for New York's 26th Congressional district, won a special election to replace former Rep. Chris Lee (R-NY). (Photo: Brendan Bannon / The New York Times)
Tonight, Democrat Kathy Hochul defeated Republican state Assemblywoman Jane Corwin in New York’s special election to replace former Rep. Chris Lee (R-NY). Despite the $2.36 million spent by groups like Karl Rove’s American Crossroads and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to keep the district red and the $60 per vote Corwin spent herself, Hochul secured a clear victory in a traditionally Republican district:
Kathy Hochul has won the special election in the 26th Congressional race, holding a six percent lead with 87% of precincts reporting.
Republican Jane Corwin has conceded.
Viewed as a referendum on House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s plan to end Medicare, Hochul’s victory exemplifies the American public’s overwhelming disgust with the GOP push to force seniors to bear the burden of increasing health costs. Expecting a loss, several Republicans — including Corwin herself — tried to assert the election had nothing to do with Ryan’s Medicare plan. But DCCC chairman Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) outlined the three reasons that Corwin lost the election: “[I]n alphabetical order, Medicare, Medicare and Medicare.”
Despite Corwin indeed crumbled as a result of the American public’s disillusionment with the GOP agenda. And now, Hochul becomes the fourth Democrat to represent the districtsince 1857. “And this is only the first seat,” said Israel.
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Charlie hanes
Fri, 2011-05-27 20:05
Congratulations..
Dwayne Smith
Fri, 2011-05-27 19:38
Congratulations to Hochul. I hope she could do better and do the best she can for the improvement of our country though some are thinking that it is better to have men in politics. However, it was said that Hochul's opponent was Republican Jane Corwin who lost by the modest margin of 47 percent to 43 percent. Jack Davis, once a Democrat but now a member of the Tea Party, earned 9 percent of the votes. I found this here: Democrat gets seat from GOP, newsytype.com
A. R. PARSONS
BUFFALO NY
Thu, 2011-05-26 06:41
These thing are just not that complicated.
I can fix Medicare tomorrow without any cuts. Put everybody on it. Need to keep idealogues happy? Make it voluntary.
Tell the Pope I can fix his problems with the presthood tomorrow as well.
kathlyn lew
Wed, 2011-05-25 17:28
Bruce Randall has it right -- Get those voting machines out of the way. They are as dishonest as the Republican Party. Citizens for written, mail-in ballots counted under strict bipartisan legal oversight must make sure that this scheme is in place for any further elections anywhere.
kathlyn lew
Wed, 2011-05-25 17:26
Bruce Randall has it right -- Get those voting machines out of the way. They are as dishonest as the Republican Party. Citizens for written, mail-in ballots counted under strict bipartisan legal oversight must make sure that this scheme is in place for any further elections anywhere.
John Ells
Wed, 2011-05-25 14:19
The politicians mentioned above are only tools of the Corporations. Our Government is not a Citizens Republic, but a Corporate Oligopoly. Industry is now the sole benefactor of all Government decisions, not citizens. And we just let them.
What we need is a real political hero, Grayson has been the closest I've seen in a long time. We could have a revolution. It's been a while, we can shoot from the ballot box.
diane ribbentrop
Wed, 2011-05-25 15:30
FYI This massive transfer of power and incredible wealth away from the middle class began with 1981 Reaganomics deregulation of ruling clas/ huge banks, Wall ST and much more Reagan Bush GOP / 3 huge Unfunded tax cuts- 2 long unfunded wars- hidden war debt Bush kept off budget- big tax cuts to Co that sent our good jobs overseas - giant corp loopholes, BIG OIL 's billions in subsides..lies, greed, fear tactics , lied into costly Iraq war based on
revenge / profits for Halliburton Black water & Weapons makers -Military Complex that has grown
way too powerful. These CO made a ' killing' in both wars...in more ways than one. Folks Speak out now
www.whitehouse.gov
www.congress.gov
www.senate.gov
Kris Merschrod Merschrod
Ithaca, NY
Wed, 2011-05-25 13:15
Let's sober up; This was a nice win, BUT
the 26th is still a Republican District - only a Tea Party spoiler saved the day.
Kathy won 47% of the votes, Obama won 46% of the votes.
If this was a referedum on the Medicar question I do not see it b/c the voting is no different from previous elections. Shirtless Chris won in 2010 with a 6% margin which is about what the margin was this time (47% Dem. Vs. 53% Rep. and Tea Party)
In the meanwhile all that progresives can hope for are more Tea Party Three-way contests in these not-so-tight districts.
BTW Kerry lost big time in this district 43% to 55%
Perhaps the district is inching toward Democrats.
No projections from here on a tide change!
Johanna Calvert
Thu, 2011-05-26 05:08
As one of the Dem's who live in the district, I know the amount of money spent and robo calling that went on.
If the Republican voters really wanted Corwin to win, they should be voted for her. They knew that she was in danger of loosing, but even still, 9% of the votes went to the third party candidate. This is a district with many older voters who really do not want their medicare to be messed with.
Robert James
Wed, 2011-05-25 13:36
Thanks for the insight. So much for my glimmer of hope.
James Loewen
Wed, 2011-05-25 13:00
"Despite Corwin indeed crumbled as a result of..." -- Does anyone proofread at TruthOut? Or just plain read? If you wish to be taken seriously, first take your own work seriously enough to read it.
Best wishes --
Steve Newman
Wed, 2011-05-25 12:54
Yes, the election of Ms. Hochul is a step in the right direction, but just one. It is going to take more to recapture our government, Fed. state and local from the grasp of corporate agendas. In the same manner that the Koch's and their ilk have managed to steer our national dialogue into becoming a pissing contest about birth certificates or the unrepentant "greed" of public employees, we who see things otherwise must work to steer the conversation back to the idea that our government is, to paraphrase Bernie Sanders, doing collectively what we cannot do individually. One of those things is providing health care for ALL Americans. Make this your mantra: health care is a right, just like the freedom to assemble and the freedom of speech. Since we have no left of center media that equates with fox news, (Pravda for Republicans as I like to think of them), it's grass roots all the way, REAL grass, not astroturf.
I applaud Ms. Hochul, but until she proves where her heart lies, I'll remain a shit disturber for universal, single payer.
Don Kraycik
Wed, 2011-05-25 16:09
Steve,
Have you ever watched the evening line-up on MSNBC? Also, Keith Olbermann's show,
Countdown, will debuting on CurrentTV on June 20th.
C. ORR
Wed, 2011-05-25 12:50
Replace all the GOP with Democrats....
Ralph Drake
Wed, 2011-05-25 14:34
Hi,
are you any relation to Dr. Orr who kept me alive during the '40s
Mark Conlan
Wed, 2011-05-25 12:43
According to Citizens for Legitimate Government, Jane Corwin responded to her defeat by getting a friendly judge, Russell P. Buscaglia, to block the certification of the result and to impound all ballots and voting machines used in the election pending a show-cause hearing later this week. How much you want to bet that by the time the ballots and machines are released and finally counted, the votes will have "mysteriously" changed and Corwin will be the winner after all -- just as that Wisconsin Supreme Court election, originally won by the Democrat, mysteriously switched after a previously uncounted precinct materialized out of nowhere? Republicans don't lose elections anymore: when they win, they win; when they "lose," they figure out how to steal the election so they "win" and take power anyway.
Kris Merschrod Merschrod
Ithaca, NY
Wed, 2011-05-25 13:18
Let's hope not. But the last I saw only 87% of the votes were counted.
Jack clark
Wed, 2011-05-25 16:10
A 6% lead with "only 87% of the votes were counted." Only? You must not have been following elections for very long, Kris.
There are 13% of the votes left. The Republican would have to get 6 of those percent for herself, while splitting the remaining 7%. So, the Republican would have to get 9.5 of that 13% just to tie: That's 73% of the yet-uncounted votes. She's only been getting 47% up 'til now.
Mark Conlan
Wed, 2011-05-25 12:43
According to Citizens for Legitimate Government, Jane Corwin responded to her defeat by getting a friendly judge, Russell P. Buscaglia, to block the certification of the result and to impound all ballots and voting machines used in the election pending a show-cause hearing later this week. How much you want to bet that by the time the ballots and machines are released and finally counted, the votes will have "mysteriously" changed and Corwin will be the winner after all -- just as that Wisconsin Supreme Court election, originally won by the Democrat, mysteriously switched after a previously uncounted precinct materialized out of nowhere? Republicans don't lose elections anymore: when they win, they win; when they "lose," they figure out how to steal the election so they "win" and take power anyway.
Robert James
Wed, 2011-05-25 12:26
Hot damn. Maybe Alan Grayson will come back as representative here in central Florida! The straightest of the straight shooters.
P Murrow
Wed, 2011-05-25 09:31
I agree with Paul Rosenfeld's post, as well.
It's good that she beat her, but this speaks more to why the Republicans took over the House. They want people to believe that this shows how Americans are on their side, but all it showed was how fed up Americans are with the Democratic Party's bullshit. Congress, for the most part, is filled with the lackeys of the health insurance industry and the military industrial complex. The majority of the public not only wants Medicare preserved, but improved and expanded to the entire country. Let's put our money into health care, jobs, social security, education, community police on bicycles, and public libaries.
Pass revolutionary campaign finance reform, and make every representative on capital hill subject to the same health care package as the rest of the country. What we don't get, they don't get. And cut all their salaries and other benefits tremendously. There's no reason the American taxpayer should be providing them a full life time retirement package after several years of employment. It's absurd, and not only that, criminal, considering how many Americans have been robbed by the CEOs that still aren't sitting in prison.
Rackard Strak
Wed, 2011-05-25 19:22
>> make every representative on capital hill subject to the same health care package as the rest of the country <<
And what package is that? There is no standard plan that the "rest of the country" has.
This is a very commonly believed lie, that Congress has a "gold-plated health plan" and they receive their full pay for life after only a few years in Washington.
Try googling it. You will find that they get the same health plan as the other federal employees; while it's good, a lot of executives and others in large corporations have much better plans.
And the retirement plan is also the same as all the federal employees. 1% of salary for each year of service. A congressman serving one term gets nothing, as it takes 5 years to vest. A congressman or senator who servwed for 12 years would get 12% of his salary when he turns 65. They also pay into Social Security and collect the same as everyone else.
Why does everyone believe this crap that is made up by Fox news? I assume you all know how to do a web search, but no one bothers.
P Murrow
Mon, 2011-05-30 08:18
"And what package is that?"
Right now, that would be the same as the 55 million Americans without any health care coverage, or, the seventy-something million Americans who are going to be on Medicaid. As some sort of *solution.*
As long as Congress remains slutted to the health insurance industry & its sociopathic CEOs murdering 45,000 Americans per year, for their bloodthirsty obscene profits, I will stand firmly against their right to have any health care coverage whatsoever, or, to have the most absurd obstacles to reasonable treatment options, put in their way.
Less them pass single payer NOW, as quickly as they pass their revolting military budgets. So that every American has access to an improved Medicare expanded to the entire nation.
It's time for America to join the rest of the 21st century, civilized, sane world.
Bruce Randall
Wed, 2011-05-25 13:03
P MURROW: I agree! We also need to trash the electronic voting machines and somehow have the votes counted by hand and monitored by an accountable method, if accountable is possible, but anyway, all machines,especially computers which are hacked for the highest bidder have to go. Everybody should demand (write,call,email) that their elected officials adopt a system that is accountable to the voters and not paid judges and other officials or greedy corrupt corporations buying our voting system to favor their interest.
P Murrow
Thu, 2011-05-26 09:03
Bruce, Totally agree that hand counted paper ballots are the way to go. Every westernized industrialized nation, except the U.S., understands the nature of software as unreliable for voting. Like healthcare, we are the only "21st century nation" with a fundamentally irrational and unscientific position. Canada hand counts national elections in 4 days, and at much lesser expense. It's absurd not to have an automatic audit with every election, publicly viewed hand counting, and correct, with no mistake, the first time around. And to have, instead, ballots being secretly counted by corporations. Take those voting machines and junk 'em.
Paul Rosenfeld
Wed, 2011-05-25 08:02
It's great that America might finally be waking up to the reality that is and has been the Republican party. I know we're all hoping for positive change, but is anyone reading this site really expecting that change to come from the Democratic party? Let's be honest with ourselves. The Democrats have been only two steps behind the Republicans on the road to perdition. They are the party that approved NAFTA, that passed welfare "reform" and repealed Glass-Steagall, setting the stage for the crisis of 2008. They wrote, lobbied for and passed a multi-billion dollar give-away to big-pharma and the health insurers and called it "health care reform." They passed financial reform only after allowing lobbyists and Wall Street insiders gut it completely. Their Justice Department is steadfast in its refusal to prosecute anyone who caused the 2008 collapse. They watch from the sidelines as millions continue to be thrown from their homes, lose their jobs, their unemployment and their dignity. I'm glad the Republicans were rebuked, but don't get your hopes up because a Democrat won.
Bruce Randall
Wed, 2011-05-25 13:09
PAUL ROSENFELD: You got that right! The Republicans and Democrats are all patting each other on the back while padding each other's wallet, behind the scenes, while we are losing our wallets.
M R
Wed, 2011-05-25 08:09
Excellent comment, Paul. We'd all be well served to view Republicans and Democrats as twins. The difference between the two parties today is merely cosmetic.
albert kapustar
Wed, 2011-05-25 06:23
Want to know how prejudice the Washinton Post is,they have an article in todays paper saying the election is no big deal and really isn't a comment on what rethugs have been daying and doing.
M R
Wed, 2011-05-25 06:05
On the surface this is great news. But we must beware if Hochul is an Obama-type Democrat. I'm not sure, I'm just asking. If she is, may as well have put the Republican in.