NY-23: Dems Whittle Down Field to Three

A long list of dudes applied for the Democratic nomination in the soon-to-be-vacant 23rd District of New York a couple of weeks ago, but many of the names were downright uninspiring. The Democratic county chairs in the district will select a nominee tonight, but it looks like they’ve already tossed out most of the chaff. From PolitickerNY.com:

Democrats have narrowed the field of potential candidates to replace John McHugh in Congress down to three people: Brian McGrath, John Sullivan and Bill Owens.

Sullivan, the former mayor of Oswego who serves as the deputy Medicaid inspector general, made a push in recent weeks to be considered and said he has raised around $30,000, with more funds pledged. McGrath is an attorney from New York who is a Lowville native. Owens is an attorney from Plattsburgh.

The Dem county chairs are currently finishing some chow right now, and will deliberate on the remaining three choices soon, with a decision to come later in the evening. We’ll keep you posted.

14 thoughts on “NY-23: Dems Whittle Down Field to Three”

  1. a former mayor of Oswego…still involved in politics with major contacts via his work in Medicaid….a knowledgeable voice on healthcare via that same work.  

    It only makes sense that thats who they’ll choose.  

  2. But with the Conservatives running their own guy, we got a definite shot here.  Even if we lose, I’m just waiting for Scozzafava to get primaried out next year.  She’s in favor of same-sex marriage equality…there’s simply no way she can win a contested GOP primary.

  3. For the geographically-challenged like myself, here’s how it looks:

    The red outline is Dede Scozzafava’s district in the state Assembly, representing about 128,000 people. Oswego has about 18,000 people, Plattsburgh has about 19,000, and Lowville has about 3,500 people.

    So, in terms of geographic bases, that’s what we’re talking about. Sullivan has the advantage of having held elective office, meaning he might actually be able to claim some base of support.

    This probably doesn’t tell us much, but in a district this big, I’ve got to think geography matters a little.

  6. plus Dede Scozzafava’s strong geographical base, plus the lack of an elected official in the Dem field, makes me think Scozzafava should win, but then again, the situation wasn’t that dramatically different in NY-20.

    Still, I’ve heard rumblings that Scozzafava will compile a more moderate record than McHugh, who was a reasonable fellow in his own right, so there’s really no losing here.

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