In an election that clearly turned into a referendum on U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan’s controversial plan to overhaul Medicare, Democrat Kathy Hochul scored a stunning upset earlier tonight in New York’s Republican-leaning 26th district, one of only four congressional districts in the state carried by John McCain in 2008.
Regarded as an underdog at the outset of the race, Hochul — the county clerk of Erie County — stormed past Republican Jane Corwin in Tuesday’ s special election, defeating the state lawmaker and wealthy former Wall Street analyst by a relatively comfortable margin.
With 89% of the district’s 627 precincts reporting, Hochul had 48 percent to Corwin’s 42 percent.
Jack Davis, a former Democrat who petitioned his way onto the ballot under the Tea Party line and gambled nearly $3 million of his own money on the race, garnered only nine percent of the vote. It was the 78-year-old multimillionaire’s fourth try for the seat.
In his concession speech at Brennan’s Bowery Bar in Clarence, Davis vowed to continue his one-man crusade against free trade.
The Green Party’s Ian Murphy, a gonzo journalist and satirist, was polling one percent of the vote.
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