Expect Another Three-Way Race in NY-23

Some interesting news from the North Country district in New York. Last year saw the heated race between Democrat Bill Owens, Republican Dede Scozafava, and Conservative Doug Hoffman (who we interviewed at JiP.) Hoffman lost in the tight three-way race to Owens, who captured less than 50% of the vote.

Now it appears that there will be a new three-way race for the district this year, at least according to one source.

Looks like it will be a barn-burner:

Hoffman, 60, insists he still has strong support in the district, and has not lost any of his momentum from last fall. His campaign released its own poll last week of 300 likely Republican primary voters, showing Hoffman leading Doheny by 32 points, 52 percent to 20 percent.

Rob Ryan, speaking for Hoffman, said the campaign is not worried about its financial disadvantage heading into the primary. He added, “Doug Hoffman will have the resources needed to win the Republican primary. And he is the only candidate who can unite the Republican and Conservative parties and defeat Bill Owens in November.”

Unfortunately, this division will just help the incumbent. Despite NY-23 being a conservative district, it did go for Barack Obama in 2008.Having Owens running as a conservative veteran incumbent will definitely hurt the chances the GOP has to win back the seat.

Cross-posted at JiP.