My pappy used to tell me: “Son, if you’re gonna go out, you may as well do it in style!” Looks like GOP Rep. Pete King is gonna do it in style:
Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) is preparing a run at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D) seat in 2010, his office confirmed Tuesday. […]
King is one of just three GOPers in the New York congressional delegation to survive November’s elections and has a good fundraising start on the race, having banked $1.2 million as of late November.
Of course, a lot depends on who Paterson chooses to fill Clinton’s seat, but I’d wager that King faces extremely tough odds — even against a “weak” Democrat. A King candidacy would also open up his Long Island House seat (old PVI: D+2.1), which is very winnable for Democrats with the right candidate.
UPDATE: The AP has more:
“I am seriously considering the race for Hillary Clinton’s seat,” King told The AP. “I’m very serious about it.”
The eight-term lawmaker from Long Island said New York’s GOP chairman Joseph Mondello “supports me 100 percent,” and that state Conservative Party chair Michael Long has responded positively.
The son of an NYPD lieutenant, King said he “would genuinely represent the interests of blue-collar conservatives.”
Nothing would make me happier than seeing my parents vote for a Democrat to represent the place where I grew up. They are committed King Democrats, as in “straight-ticket Democrat, except for King”. I’ve tried, and failed, to convince them not to vote for King, so any method of getting him out of that seat is a positive in my book.
but he’s the only person standing between it and Democratic hegemony in the NY area. With him out, this district goes blue (see Fossella, Vito). Plus, he’s basically an East Coast version of an Orange County Republican, so I doubt he’ll have much appeal to the rural R’s upstate. With a half-decent Dem candidate he’s toast. So I say yes – run, Pete, run!
Didn’t think about it before but the point has been raised that whoever Patterson picks will have to run in back to back cycles meaning fundraising will be a challenge to say the least. Hence one of the reasons Teddy and Bobby are pushing for Caroline. I’m thinking it’ll either be her or Cuomo. Either would crush King.
Because a right-wing hack stands a great chance of winning NY statewide.
We could sweep the state, New Mexico Style
Barring future retirements, NY-3 probably stands second only to Anh “Joe” Cao in LA-2 as a target for Democrats. A Nike Castle retirement or run for the Senate could change this but barring scandal, it is unlikely to drop further than third.
If we can take out 2008 freshman Christopher Lee in NY-26, John McHugh in Ny-23 becomes the last of the Mohicans, er Republicans in NY State. It was 16-15 D after 1994. Given his far upstate district, that’s a fitting title for McHugh (who looks more like Sam Waterston than Daniel Day-Lewis).
out there with any thoughts on who’s on our bench in this district? Despite the gains we’ve made in the state senate on LI recently, it still doesn’t look like there are any Democratic state senators within NY-03. But a quick look at the map indicates three Assemblymen here (Robert Sweeney in AD-11, Charles Lavine in AD-13, Harvey Weisenberg in AD-20), plus there must be a lot of Nassau County Legislators to choose from.
The legislature was very likely to remove him in ’11 anyway.
the issue of NY is (almost certainly) to lose two House seats in the 2011 re-districting. And what the Dem controlled state houses and Governor will be doing to his district.
So it’s probably smart for him to try for this sort-of open seat (or at least one where it’s not a true incumbent, but just a 2-year appointee) rather than deal with his newly designed district-to-be in his 2012 re-election effort.
isn’t this the district Meijas ran in. I heard he won a state senate race, any chance he runs again. He nearly beat King in 2006.