"Our challenges aren't Democratic or Republican. They're not liberal or conservative. They are American challenges that we will overcome with American resolve," Owens said in his victory speech. "The only way that we can create jobs and attract economic development to our communities is by bringing people of all parties together and giving everyone a seat at the table."
With 92 percent of the precincts reporting early Wednesday, Owens defeated businessman Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate, 49 percent to 45 percent, after a boost from unified labor efforts in the last days of the campaign.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.c om/2009/11/03/bill-owens-le ads-doug-hof_n_344776.html
I don't like drawing conclusions about the national electorate from NY-23 any more than I do from the gubernatorial races in NJ and VA.
I tend to agree with Nate Silver that the lesson of last night should be "All Politics is Local". We can draw conclusions about national trends next year when there are 435 local elections across all 50 states.
Hoffman didn't live in NY-23 and showed no knowledge or interest in local issues. Ninety-five percent of his funding was from outside of the district.
Corzine was up against a bad economy. According the Silver "three-quarters of Corzine's voters cited a national issue -- health care or the economy -- as their primary reason for voting for him, two-thirds of Christie's picked a local one (property taxes and corruption)."
