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May. 14, 2011 3:37 AM ET
GOP budget, Medicare plan influence NY House race
BETH FOUHY, Associated Press  

CLARENCE CENTER, N.Y. (AP) — The special election to fill a House seat in upstate New York was supposed to be an easy victory for Republicans.
But less than two weeks before the May 24 vote, polls show a competitive contest between Republican Jane Corwin, 47, and Democrat Kathy Hochul, 52, in what's become the first electoral test of GOP budget policies. The race also has drawn an avalanche of spending by interest groups, as well as both national parties.
"Jane Corwin said she would vote for the 2012 Republican budget that would essentially end Medicare," says a TV ad for Hochul, underscoring the degree to which the national debate in Washington is framing this race.
Corwin hits back in her own ad, saying Hochul "refuses to tell us her plan to cut the deficit."
Until recently, Democrats had all but written off the state's 26th congressional district spanning the suburban and rural communities between Rochester and Buffalo. The seat was left vacant in February, when incumbent Republican Rep. Chris Lee resigned after shirtless photos surfaced that he'd sent to a woman he'd met on Craigslist.
It's the most conservative district in New York; Republican John McCain carried it by 6 points over President Barack Obama in 2008. And it could be eliminated next year when the state loses two seats as lawmakers redraw congressional lines as required by law following the 2010 Census.
But this week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced it would spend $250,000 on ads to help Hochul, the Erie County clerk. The campaign committee had already contributed about $100,000 to Hochul for research and other campaign operations.
The House Majority PAC, a new independent group launched to help House Democrats, announced late Friday it would also begin TV advertising to help Hochul.
The GOP isn't taking any chances. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, headlined a fundraiser for Corwin last week, the National Republican Congressional Committee has pledged to advertise and a major GOP-aligned group has gotten involved, too............................>>>>..........................>>>>............................http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAUL.....445aa7184a1080cf93f2