Saranac Lake (WSYR-TV/AP) – Democrat Bill Owens has captured the special election in the 23rd Congressional District. It was a battle that became a fight over the identity of the Republican Party.
Doug Hoffman, the Conservative candidate conceded the race to Owens very early Wednesday morning.
Owens defeated Hoffman and Republican Dierdre Scozzafava in the heavily Republican 23rd district that spans close to a dozen counties across central and rural northern New York, including Oswego and Madison counties.
With 92 percent of the precincts reporting early Wednesday, lawyer and retired Air Force Capt. Bill Owens defeated businessman Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate, 49 percent to 45 percent, after a boost from unified labor efforts in the last days of the campaign and the withdrawal of the Republican candidate over the weekend.
"This has been an extraordinary journey," said Owens, who thanked his family, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
The race had been getting national attention, with some calling it a referendum on President Barack Obama and others saying it could help Republicans focus their message to attract more people to the party.
“This one was worth the fight, and its just one fight in a battle. We can’t stop,” Hoffman told a crowd of supporters in Saranac Lake, who stayed late into the night waiting as the results in the hotly-contested district came in.
Hoffman gained the full Republican Party’s support after the party’s choice candidate, Scozzafava, came under attack from other conservative Republicans before abruptly withdrawing from the race Saturday.
"The process of bringing people together to get results is something I've been doing for a long time, and that's what I'm going to continue to do when I get to Washington," he added.
Owens also thanked one-time opponent Dierdre Scozzafava, a moderate Republican who exited the race Saturday under pressure from the party's right wing because of her support of abortion rights and same-sex marriage and momentum behind Hoffman. Scozzafava, an assemblywoman in the state legislature, picked up 6 percent of the vote herself.
Republicans hadn't lost in the region in more than a century. Owens defeated Hoffman despite a 45,000-voter registration edge for Republicans and big-name endorsements for Hoffman from former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, former Republican Sen. Fred Thompson and others. Hoffman had rallied an unexpected level of support in the final days of the campaign, ultimately forcing Scozzafava to quit when he surged past her in the polls.
