The 2009 special election for the 20th congressional district of New York was held on March 31, 2009. The two major-party candidates were Democrat Scott Murphy, a private businessman, and Republican Jim Tedisco, the minority leader of the New York State Assembly. A third-party candidate, Libertarian Eric Sundwall, was initially included in the race, but later removed from the ballot.
About 2009 New York’s 20th congressional district special election in brief
The 2009 special election for the 20th congressional district of New York was held on March 31, 2009. The two major-party candidates were Democrat Scott Murphy, a private businessman, and Republican Jim Tedisco, the minority leader of the New York State Assembly. A third-party candidate, Libertarian Eric Sundwall, was initially included in the race, but later removed from the ballot. The race was so close that one early vote count had the candidates tied at 77,225 votes each. The Republican Party considered the election to be a referendum on President Obama’s economic policy and as such, injected significant funding into Tedisco’s campaign. Democrats used Senator Gillibrand, Vice President Joe Biden, and an endorsement from President Barack Obama to support the Murphy campaign. By April 23 Murphy had a 401-vote advantage. Tedisco conceded the race the following day, and Murphy was sworn in on April 29. New York’s 20th district in 2009 encompassed all or part of Columbia, Dutchess, Delaware, Essex, Greene, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties. In November 2008, the Republican Party held an enrollment advantage of 70,632 registered voters across the district, down from a 93,337-voter advantage when the district lines were drawn in 2002. Although Republican George W. Bush carried the district by an eight-point margin in the 2004 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama won the district in 2008 by a three- point margin, or approximately 10,000 votes of over 330,000 cast.
The district’s seat became vacant in January 2009 when Governor David Paterson appointed Kirsten Gillibrands to the United States Senate to replace Clinton. Under state law, Paterson was not required to issue a proclamation for a special election until July 2010. In lieu of party primaries, the party nominees were chosen by a weighted vote among the county committees. The weight of the vote depended on the number of registered party voters in a given county, and depended on how many members of the county’s county committees voted for the party nominee for the Republican nomination for the gubernatorial nomination. State Senator Betty Little and former state Assembly minority leader John Faso had been in the running for the GOP nomination, while the eventual GOP nominee, Stephen Wager, won the nomination on January 24, 2008. In January 2009, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a former Democratic presidential primary opponent, and State Senator Alexander Treadwell, the former U.S. Secretary of S.C., announced he would not run for re-election to the House of Representatives. The election was won by Murphy. The seat was once considered a safe seat for Republicans until Blue Dog Democrat Kirsten Gilibrand defeated incumbent John E. Sweeney in the 2006 election. In the 2008 election, the GOP held an advantage of over 70,000 registered voters.
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